A Cat Completes A Home
by Fiver
Summary: When Ancient Egyptian Cat Goddess, Bastet, decides to punish Bakura for his misdeeds towards her fellow deities, it causes a few problems of the feline kind for poor Ryou...! Tendershipping
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi everyone.**_

_**Good God…I'm back!**_

_**I hope you all like this new story :D**_

_**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.**_

**_Warning: Will eventually contain shonen-ai. Don't like, don't read, don't complain._**

**_A Cat Completes A Home_**

_**Chapter 1**_

_"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." _**- ****Anonymous**

If there is one common characteristic that all Gods throughout history have shared, it is a very nasty vengeful streak. Whether they are smiting the wicked, shooting their foes down with lightning bolts or sending a pestilence to wipe out an entire nation – these divine beings have never been inclined to just forgive and forget mankind's misdemeanours.

Bakura Touzoku had insulted, slighted or otherwise peed-off every Ancient Egyptian God and Goddess at least once. Be it through accidental error, crimes of necessity or just blatant blaspheming, he'd done something that had rubbed all his homeland's deities the wrong way.

And, being Gods, they weren't planning to let the matter lie.

Following the Thief King's resurrection in the twenty-first century, all these largely forgotten (and surprisingly petty and grudging) beings were spending a lot of their time arguing over who would rain punishment upon his accursed soul first. If it had gone to bids, even Bakura would have been surprised at how high a value his damnation was placed.

"Who decided to give him another life, anyway?" Set growled, "I can't think of anyone less deserving of a second chance."

"After seeing his village slaughtered and then spending five millennia trapped inside a pendant, I think he deserves something," Re, the only one not wholly enraged by one of Bakura's acts, sighed.

"All he _deserves _is a punishment!" Set (who had felt slighted by Bakura's failure to pray to him for success before battle and laughing at the very idea of doing so) snarled, "And I'd like to do it."

"_We _should do it," Osiris interjected, indicating to himself and Anubis, "As the Gods of mummification and death, he angered us unforgivably by desecrating the tombs of the deceased."

"What about me?" Ptah put in, "I laid blessings and good fortune upon the craftsmen of Egypt, and he robbed them of their wares! I should discipline him!"

The usual rabble broke out. Re sighed again. He himself had decided to grant Bakura his second life, but he also agreed that he should pay some penance for his past misdeeds. Sadly, it didn't seem as if his companions were going to decide on anything any time soon.

"_Enough!_"

…

Or not.

They all went silent at that shrill, heated voice. Slowly, every head – jackal, falcon, human and whatever else – turned towards its source: Bastet, cat deity and Goddess of the home. She had never really become involved in this debate before, mellow-natured as her docile side was, so when she spoke out in anger, they listened.

"_I _will punish the Thief King," she hissed at all of them.

"What claim do you have to the task?" Horus demanded, "What has he done to offend you?"

"Perhaps not much," she said, "But he has affronted all of you, in his own way, and that displeases me. And you will never decide among yourselves who will act, and as a result he will go unscathed. Let me, an outsider, do it. Besides…" she paused, slit-pupilled eyes narrowing, "He hates cats. That's reason enough for me."

A buzz of debate ran through the crowd.

"I agree with Bastet," Re said loudly, "At the very least this will get this tiresome deed over with. If she carries out the punishment, will you all agree for it to be the end of the matter?"

There was a murmur of agreement.

"Good," he said grimly, turning to Bastet, "Don't kill him. I'd prefer for the punishment _not _to be permanent, and for him to live past it."

"Fear not," she said with a smile of wicked delight, "I know just what to do."

And so, that night, she stole down to the mortal plane (omitting the beam of heavenly light for once – she didn't want to attract too much attention). She drifted through a wall like a ghost into what she knew to be the Thief King's new home. A pleasant enough house, she supposed. But no home was complete without a cat. Hmph.

She entered the first room she came to, and found it to be a bedroom. A figure inhabited the bed, and she saw a head of rumpfled white hair resting on the pillow. Giggling to herself in glee, she stood before the bed and cast her incantation – a mild, non-lethal but thoroughly unnerving curse. And just so little Touzoku knew _exactly _who was responsible for it – who knows, perhaps he might have thought himself to be suffering from some modern disease – she placed a small carved stone cat on the bedside table. Its eyes were green, and they seemed to glint in a life-like fashion in the moonlight.

Congratulating herself on a job well and swiftly done, she left again, greatly anticipating the reaction of her fellow deities – and, indeed, the Bandit himself – when they found out what she'd done.

…

Another characteristic most Gods seem to share is thinking themselves infallible.

Bastet left the house without having the slightest thought that she'd just made a mistake.

…She had.

The boy in the bed moaned quietly and opened his sleepy green eyes. The sound of outlandish chanting had woken him.

"Yami-san?" he called softly into the darkness, sitting up, "Is that you?"

He was answered only by the silence. Shrugging to himself and explaining the sound away as part of a strange dream, he lay down and drifted back to sleep, unaware that anything had changed.

…

But it had.

* * *

The first thing that made Bakura remotely suspect something was amiss was Ryou's frightened squeak from the bathroom that morning. 

He raised an eyebrow and looked up from his morning coffee at the sound, but when nothing else of consequence followed besides the shower being switched on as usual, he quickly brushed it aside.

A quarter of an hour later his hikari came into the kitchen, looking well-groomed and neat in his school uniform (as opposed to Bakura who, though he wore the exact same uniform, just somehow had a way of always looking distinctly haphazard, from the unbuttoned blazer to the wilder-than-yours hair). He looked rather shaken, but Bakura was never one to show concern or ask questions so he merely waited to see if he would explain his disquiet without prompt.

Sure enough, after a moment of awkward hovering, he cleared his throat quietly.

"Um…yami-san…" he said timidly once he had his attention, "This might seem an…odd…question, but…do my eyes look…different to you today?"

Bakura gave him one of those looks of 'By the Gods, you're stupid'.

"No?" Ryou suggested meekly.

"I'm not in the habit of staring at your eyes, yadonushi," he said bluntly, causing Ryou to flush and start protesting that he hadn't been suggesting such a thing, "_But _I think it's impossible for eyes to 'change' overnight."

"Really? I was sure…" Ryou murmured before shaking his head, "No, you're right…I must have been half-asleep…"

Appearing slightly bewildered, he switched the kettle on to boil again and set about making breakfast for the two of them. Nothing was burnt today (clearly he was getting better at this cooking thing) and soon two plates of fried eggs and toast landed on the table. Whilst Bakura attacked his with his fork (at least he was _using _a fork now – it was an improvement), Ryou made himself a mug of tea. After the little bag of leaves had satisfactorily diffused into the water, he removed it and took the carton of milk from the fridge and poured some of the creamy liquid into the mug. Bakura frowned.

"Since when do you take milk in tea?" he asked. As has already been established, he didn't normally ask questions. But it had always been one of Ryou's weird little quirks that he took his tea black – _always. _When small changes like this messed up the usual routine, it aggravated Bakura beyond belief.

"Oh…I don't know. I just felt like it today," he replied vaguely, sitting down and starting to eat his own food with his impeccable table manners. Bakura looked at him suspiciously. It was then that he noticed, to his considerable astonishment, that Ryou _hadn't _been talking garbage – his eyes _did _look different. They were…greener? Was that possible?

His eyes had always been such a bright green…

But something was definitely different. Today they looked a sharper, glassier green. Elf-eye green.

And even the _shape _of his eyes seemed subtly altered. As if they now had a slight slant to them…?

He shook his head as Ryou had done before. Nah, surely not.

"Come on, its time to go," he said shortly just as Ryou finished eating.

"Coming…!" he said in his usual flustered morning-manner. He hurriedly stacked the breakfast dishes in the sink to be washed later and grabbed his schoolbag. Just as they were about to walk out the door, and Bakura was thinking they might actually get to school on time today without sprinting half the way, Ryou went wide-eyed (_something's up with those eyes, _Bakura thought again) and dropped his bag back to the floor.

"Wait, I forgot to feed Rupert-!" he said, dashing back into the living room. Bakura groaned and thumped his head against the doorframe.

"You and that damn rat!" he yelled after him, "I'm not getting landed in detention because your stupid rodent can't survive six hours without food! Hurry up or I leave without you!"

But, of course, both of them knew, deep down, that he wouldn't.

Rupert was not, in reality, a rat, but a very tame and sickeningly cute white mouse. Ryou had really wanted a cat, but Bakura had made it clear that any feline that entered this house would very swiftly be leaving it again (in a shoebox coffin), and so he had opted – perhaps somewhat perversely – for a mouse instead.

Bakura huffed impatiently, listening to the rattle of Ryou shaking food into the little pest's plastic bowl and the soft murmur as he actually _spoke _to the creature, strange boy that he was.

Then he almost jumped out of his skin as the boy-to-mouse baby-talk suddenly gave way to a startled shriek.

"What happened?" he demanded, hurrying into the living room but doing his utmost to appear unconcerned and merely annoyed. Ryou was sitting on the floor, pale-faced and cradling one hand in the other.

"He…he bit me," he stuttered out, expression stunned.

Bakura felt an inexplicable rush of anger directed at the little fuzz-ball – his thoughts running somewhere along the lines of 'how _dare _you, damn rat!' -, but stubbornly shoved it away.

"Is that any reason to scream?" he snapped at his hikari, "It's a _mouse, _for Chrissakes. One bite's not going to _kill _you."

"It…it didn't hurt so much…" Ryou mumbled, inspecting the mildly bleeding marks on his hand, "It's just…not like him…"

Bakura gave a 'you are a _moron_' sigh.

"It. Is. A. _Mouse,_" he snarled, "All it knows is that you _feed it. _It doesn't _like _you. Obviously it'll bite if it's in a pissy mood."

Ryou sniffled slightly and shifted onto his knees, closing the cage door gently and starting to scoop up the food mix that he must have spilled in his fright.

"I'll do it," Bakura said harshly, pushing him out of the way, "You go and put a Band-Aid on your bloody war-wound."

Ryou, knowing that his yami was hating the delay this was causing, shuffled out of the room obediently, head down.

Bakura started raking the spilt food together irritably and throwing it back in its tub. Rupert poked his twitching pink nose through the bars of the cage at him.

"What's your problem today, huh?" he muttered, glaring at the diminutive rodent, "I suppose you _want _me to get detention?"

It was…strange, though. He could rant all he liked, but he knew Rupert never bit anyone. Even when Ryou had just got him at first, and he'd spent most of his time cowering and shivering in the back corner of his cage, if someone had stuck their hand in, he'd never tried biting.

He growled quietly to himself. This had better not turn out to be 'one of those days'.

At length the mess was cleared up, Ryou's finger stopped bleeding and was bandaged up, and they could finally leave.

"Gods, don't look so depressed," Bakura ordered as he locked the front door and noticed Ryou's forlorn expression, "Forget what I said, ok? Stupid mouse probably just woke up on the wrong side of the hamster-wheel."

Ryou blinked and looked up at him curiously, evidently surprised at this almost-comforting remarked. Then he smiled.

"Thanks," he said softly, looking shyly at his feet. Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he replied, giving him a slight shove towards the sidewalk, "Go. Walk. Fast."

Ryou nodded and they commenced their usual mad dash to get to Domino High School on time. This generally involved cutting corners, dodging speeding traffic and occasionally – if the situation was _really _desperate – jumping fences, all the while alternating between power-walking and flat-out, dignity-thrown-to-the-winds running. And every day, without fail, all would go smoothly and they would beat the bell with relative ease.

However, today hadn't exactly gone according to plan so far, and it seemed to be plotting to continue in the same way.

They had barely even reached the end of their street when something shot out from beneath a nearby hedge and ran smack into Ryou's feet. Since he was in such a hurry, it caught him somewhat by surprised, and he stumbled and fell painfully to the sidewalk. Flat on his face.

"Wha-? Hikari, what is _wrong _with you this morning?" Bakura groaned, palming his face.

"Aah…sorry, yami-san," he whimpered, wincing and struggling up on grazed hands and knees. Before he could stand, though, the same thing that had tripped him in the first place pounced on his back and sent him right back down.

"What is that thing?" Bakura asked incredulously as it zipped around the fallen boy like a black-and-white bolt of lightning. At length it stopped in front of his face.

"Ow…oh, hello Mr. Cat," Ryou said dazedly as his assassin almost rubbed noses with him, meowing happily, "Why are you knocking me down…?"

"Ryou, we don't have _time _for you to talk to _cats_," Bakura growled, sending the rogue feline a dark scowl and grabbing his hikari's wrists to haul him to his feet, "Come _on_!"

He took off again, dragging Ryou behind him. Things went as normal for a few minutes…but, sadly, only for those few minutes.

"Um…yami-san…?" Ryou said breathlessly.

"_What?_" he snarled, not slowing down.

"We seem to have a slight…problem…"

He opened his mouth to ask him what the hell he was on about, but then he felt something bump against his foot and, looking down, found the answer himself.

"Holy _shit_-!"

No less than _five _cats were prancing and milling around their feet, mewing loudly, and more seemed to be appearing all the time.

"What is going on with the world today?" he bellowed to no one in particular. He picked up the pace and Ryou 'eeped' as he was tugged forward and almost stood on a large grey tabby.

It was only then that he noticed that the fur-balls were all crowding around _Ryou's _ankles – then one that had brushed against him had been a fluke. For whatever reason, it was Ryou the deranged animals were after.

"Can they smell that damn mouse off you or something?" he shouted back to him.

"B-but I feed him every morning, and this has never happened before-!" Ryou squeaked in reply, jumping over a particularly persistent ginger tom.

Just then, the school came into sight. By some miracle, they were just in time as usual, and they dashed for it and threw themselves in the first door they came to. They slammed it shut behind them, and Ryou winced as he heard several 'whumps' as several cats ran into it at full pelt.

"What _the hell _is going on?" Bakura demanded, slightly out of breath, listening to the indignant meows and hisses coming from the other side of the door.

"I…don't know…" Ryou replied, gasping for air, "But…I don't think it's…normal…"

Bakura had already reached _that _conclusion.

He'd also reached the conclusion that this was indeed going to be 'one of those days'.

* * *

…_**Hm.**_

_**Somehow, I feel like this was a really weird story for me to choose to be my first Yu-Gi-Oh fic (laugh) **_

_**Sorry if it was a strange or not-up-to-standard comeback :P**_

**_This is going to be a five-chapter story, and hopefully it'll be finished around Christmas. (But I have a lot of school work so...it probably won't. Maybe next Christmas:P) It's just a little bit of funny fluff XD The 'proper' Yu-Gi-Oh fic I'm working on is going to be around twenty-five chapters long (a bit of a far shot from 'I Found Your Diary o.o) and I want it mostly finished before I start uploading, so God knows when that will appear. So I hope everyone likes this for now._**

**_Please review!_**

**_Fiver_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A Cat Completes A Home**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_"Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities too." - _**Missy Dizick**

"…Ryou," Yuugi said at lunchtime, "Are you wearing…um…eye make-up or something?"

Ryou blinked.

"Eh?" he squeaked when he found his voice, "N-no, of course not!"

"Coloured contacts?" Otogi suggested.

"No!"

"Oh…right."

"W-why do you ask?" he asked nervously, "Is something strange-looking about me?"

"Don't worry about it," Yuugi said, "Your eyes look kinda different, is all."

"Different how?"

"I don't know…a different shade of green from usual. Or a different shape, or…never mind. I'm sure it's just me."

"No, I noticed something strange with them this morning," Ryou said worriedly, "But Bakura-san said he noticed no difference, so I thought I must have imagined it…"

"You shouldn't take Bakura's word for anything," Atemu said dryly.

"Oh…um…"

Yuugi laughed.

"You and he will just never learn to get along, will you?" he enquired of his yami in amusement, "Anyway, don't panic, Ryou. I'm sure it's nothing. I was just worried Malik had been teaching you how to apply eyeliner."

"Hey," the Egyptian teen complained, frowning mildly from his kohl-rimmed violet eyes.

Ryou wasn't convinced. He could see his reflection glinting in the clean blade of his cutlery knife. He angled it to see his face, and was certain that his eyes looked…changed, if nothing else. Bordering on abnormal. A creepy colour of green – the sort of effect you would get if you shone a light through a green glass bottle. And a slant where there had been no slant before.

The others had gone back to their chatter, but Malik noticed his disturbance.

"Relax," he told him with one of his lazy smiles, "We're all at 'that age', right? Hormones going berserk. Sometimes things change kind of quickly, or go a bit weird for a while."

"Oh…ok," Ryou said with his best attempt at a smile, but his heart was heavy, and he had that gut-feeling that something just wasn't right.

* * *

Following an uneventful day at school (which, mercifully, hadn't ended in detention for anyone), Ryou began to make his way home. As per usual, Bakura hadn't bothered waiting for him, so he walked alone, shivering slightly in the cold winter air which, for some reason, seemed more frigid and cutting than normal to him today. He breathed a deep sigh, his warm breath hanging in a white cloud in the bitter air, and wrapped his arms tightly around himself, his right hand still awkwardly clutching the handle of his bag. His thick coat felt surprisingly ineffective. He wished he had gloves. And a hat. And a scarf. 

"Ryou…! Wait up."

He blinked and turned around to see Malik hurrying along the street behind him. He smiled slightly and waited.

When the Egyptian teen had transferred to Domino a few months ago, everyone (Ryou included, he would confess) had feared a repeat performance of Battle City. But, no, he seemed to have really calmed himself down, and maybe made some kind of peace with the world. And, with Mariku taking a long time-out in the Shadow Realm, he was marginally less psychotic than before. Some of the things he said or did were still liable to make Ryou's eyes pop out of his head, but he'd found he got on surprisingly well with him and liked listening to his crazy talk.

"Holy. Freaking. Re," the blonde said as he reached him, "What is _wrong _with this country? It's so cold, it's unreal!"

Ryou laughed softly. Malik was wrapped up much warmer than he was – he did indeed have gloves, a hat and a scarf – but appeared to be suffering ever worse with the weather.

"I guess it's never like this in Egypt?" he asked.

"Ryou, I grew up in a damp, dark hole _under _Egypt that was never this cold," Malik informed him, stamping his feet as they walked as if to force some feeling back into them, "And the roads are so icy, I can't even ride my bike to school. Walking doesn't _exactly _provide the same thrill."

Ryou laughed again.

"Old Scrooge the Tomb-Robber ditch you again?" Malik asked.

"Huh…? Oh. Yes, he always goes home by himself."

"What an ass," the blonde declared, "With everything you do for him, he could at least wait for you and walk you home."

"It doesn't matter," Ryou said with a small shrug, "He needs time to himself."

"Does he even help out around the house?"

"Not really…but that's because he doesn't care if the house is clean or not. It's only me who gets annoyed by things like that. So it makes sense that I do it, right?"

Malik exhaled noisily in annoyance, clearly irked that nothing he said would ever rouse Ryou against his yami. He had tried many times. The white-haired teen was just too amiable.

Suddenly, Ryou froze as he felt something press itself against his legs and heard a low, rumbling sound reminiscent of a very expensive motorcar.

"Hey, I didn't know you had a cat," Malik said, crouching down and offering his hand to the fluffy blue-black purring feline for it to inspect. Malik was fearless with animals, to an almost worrying extent.

"It's not mine," Ryou said uneasily, taking a step away, "I mean, I wanted one, but Bakura-san doesn't like them…"

"What? That's bullcrap. It's your house, for Re's sake! Look, this one likes you," he indicated to the black Persian, who had quickly lost interest in his attentions and had gone back to Ryou, "Take it home with you!"

"_Malik, _it could belong to anyone," he said with a frown, "I can't just take home _any _cat off the street…"

He trailed off as he noticed that the blonde wasn't looking at him, but rather _past _him, lavender eyes bemused and fixed on something further down the street.

"Well if you're going to be fussy about it…" he said, pointing, "Take your pick."

With mounting dread, Ryou turned to follow his gaze.

"Oh, not _again_-!"

An alarmingly large army of tails and whiskers was thundering towards them.

"Run-!" Ryou squeaked, grabbing Malik's arm – since the Egyptian teen seemed quite content to just wait to be stampeded on by a hundred paws – and taking off in the direction of his house.

"Did you say 'not again'?" Malik asked laughingly, "So this happens quite a lot? Impressive animal magnetism."

"No!" Ryou moaned, "It happened this morning…never before…!"

Malik seemed to find this as funny as Ryou found it terrifying, but that was nothing new. The same thing had happened when they watched 'Dawn of the Dead'.

They finally reached Ryou's little suburban home. The door was locked.

"I can't find my key!" the whitenette wailed, digging desperately in his bag. By this time the plague of cats was upon them, meowing and yowling and pawing for attention.

"What's the panic?" Malik asked as if this wasn't remotely abnormal, "It doesn't look like their after your _blood _or something."

"I don't care what they're after!" Ryou moaned, "This is just too weird…!"

The cats were clambering around him in one freakish, furry mass. Gentle-natured as he was, he still looked sorely tempted to just kick out at them.

Just then, the loud knocking of the teen's fists hammering the door were abruptly cut off as said door swung open, revealing a very disgruntled-looking Thief King.

"Goddamnit, Ryou, you only need to knock…once…" Bakura trailed off as his piercing crimson eyes took in the scene of feline devastation before him, "What the _hell _is this?"

"New brothers and sisters for you!" Malik announced happily, picking up the nearest cat (with his typical fearlessness of teeth and claws) and shoving it under Bakura's nose.

"Get that _thing _out of my face, Ishtar," he snarled, swiping at him. The blonde dodged deftly out of his reach.

"Look, Ryou, this one has a grumpy face," he said with a grin, pointing at the decidedly ill-tempered animal in his arms, "Let's call it…Bakura!"

Ryou stifled a nervous giggle as his yami scowled.

"Go home, you psychopath," he growled. Malik blew him an insolent little kiss.

"See you tomorrow," he said, setting the cat down and continuing on his way, "Have fun with your new petting zoo there."

"Bye…" Ryou said with a small wave.

"Get inside," Bakura ordered irritably. Ryou cringed slightly at his tone but obliged. The cats tried to follow.

"Get lost, fur-balls," he snapped, slamming the door shut before rounding on Ryou, "Damnit, why are you attracting those things? You know I _hate _them!"

"I'm not doing it on _purpose_," Ryou protested feebly, "It's not my fault…"

"Whatever," Bakura said shortly, walking away, "But it better stop. Soon."

Ryou gave a sad sigh and retired to his room to make a start on his homework.

It was difficult to concentrate. His mind kept wandering…and the sound of pitiful meowing outside his window was extremely distracting. For the first time, he wished he didn't live in a bungalow.

After a few hours in which he accomplished very little, he decided to call it a day. He put down his pen and stretched, wondering what he should make for dinner. Then, as he turned around, something on his bedside table caught his eye, as unfamiliar objects in a familiar place always do. Frowning, he went over and picked it up and turned it over in his hands. He didn't think he'd ever seen it before. It certainly didn't belong to him. It was a small carved stone figurine. And it was, he saw to his great disturbance, shaped like a cat. He remembered the strange chanting he had been sure he had heard the previous night and his agitation grew.

The little statue had a rather Egyptian look to it. He knew cats had been popular in Ancient Egypt, and he was reasonably sure the markings etched into the stone body were hieroglyphs. Maybe Bakura would know what it was.

He exited the room, intending upon seeking out his yami – who, inevitably, would be watching television or doing something equally unconstructive – and asking him about it. However, just as he stepped out into the hallway, there came an unhealthy _shooom_ sound, and suddenly every light went out. It was the dead of winter, and it had been dark for a few hours now, so Ryou found himself plunged into total blackness.

A cry of alarm escaped his lips. He had a life-long terror of intense darkness – not helped by his experiences in the Shadow Realm – and he instinctively crouched down low on the floor and hid his face in his knees, making small noises of fear he was unable to suppress. Cold and alone in the dark, like in the nightmares of his childhood.

"Quieten down, will you?" snapped a harsh voice from somewhere nearby, "It's probably just a power-cut. I'll find a torch."

A small amount of warmth flooded through his being and a little of his fear abated. Bakura may not like him very much, but he quietly understood his phobia of the dark and would grudgingly come to his rescue in situations such as this.

He tentatively raised his head and dared to open his eyes. He blinked.

"It's alright, yami-san," he called, not sure where in the house Bakura was, "It's not really so dark."

"What are you _talking _about?" his yami growled, his voice sounding as if it was coming from the kitchen (and, indeed, Ryou thought he could hear him rummaging through some cupboard), "You can't see your hand in front of your face."

Ryou uncertainly raised one hand and found he could see it quite clearly. He got to his feet and looked around. Everything had a sort of dim quality to it, and colours were much less vibrant than in the light, but he could see everything in the room in near-perfect detail. Puzzled, he wandered towards the kitchen. He heard a dull thump and loud curse as Bakura hit his head against something, closely followed by a sound of triumph.

"Found the damn torch," he announced, "Right at the back of the bloody cupboard, as usual."

Ryou opened his mouth to tell him it was ok, they didn't need the torch, but before he could make a sound Bakura switched the device on and he found himself being dazzled as the light shone right in his face. He shut his eyes as the brightness made his retinas smart. At length he opened them again and looked towards Bakura, only to see his face become stricken and his jaw drop.

"…Holy _shit_!" the yami managed at length, averting the beam of the torch.

"What is it?" Ryou asked in concern.

Bakura scowled and looked at him suspiciously.

"What's going on?" he demanded angrily, "Is this some kind of prank?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryou asked with a slight pout.

"Your _eyes,_" Bakura hissed.

"What _about _them?"

Without another word, Bakura shone the torch in his face again. Ryou could just see him over the glare, and saw him incline his head pointedly to the right. He turned and found himself looking into the hall mirror.

And he had to stifle a scream.

When the light hit his eyes…

They _glowed._

No, he realized, his eyes weren't _glowing. _The light was reflecting off them so brightly it gave the impression of luminescence.

"I…I don't…"

The lights came back on.

Yami and hikari stared at each other silently for a moment.

"What's going on with you, Ryou?" Bakura asked finally.

"I don't know," he replied very quietly. He could feel his limbs shaking.

What was wrong with him?

"I found this…" he said, handing his yami the stone cat, "It's the only unusual thing I've noticed in my room."

Bakura stared blankly at the little figurine for a long moment.

Then his face morphed into a dark, furious glare.

"Why didn't I _guess_?" he growled, throwing the tiny statue savagely to the floor. Ryou gasped as it immediately turned to dust.

Bakura seethed inwardly. How could he have been so _blind_? He looked once again at Ryou's eyes. That sharp green.

Not elf-eye green.

_Cats_-eye green.

He punched the nearest wall in rage before throwing his head back and glaring at the ceiling.

"_Bastet!_" he roared.

There was a short pause, and then Ryou yelped in shock as a beam of blinding white light shot down from above.

Well, you can't expect a God to make a lacklustre entrance twice in a row.

The light faded slowly to reveal the dramatically robed figure now standing in the middle of the hallway. It had a human body…and the head of a cat. Ryou gaped. Bakura scowled.

"You called, tomb-robber?" Bastet said sweetly, in her annoyingly shrill voice.

"What the hell are you playing at?" he snarled at her, "Why are you doing this?"

"Ooh, noticed my little curse, have you?" she asked, looking smug, "What do you think of it so far?"

"What do I _think_?" Bakura repeated through clenched teeth, "I _think _you just crossed the line."

"Oh my, is it really so bad?" she questioned, looking at him closely, "It doesn't even seem to have taken much effect yet, so I don't know what you're complaining about."

Bakura looked at her for a long, painful moment.

"Why are you looking at _me_?" he asked at length.

"Why do you think?" she said, rolling her eyes as if that had been the stupidest question in the world.

There was another spiralling silence.

"Wait. Are you saying…that this 'curse'…was meant for me?" Bakura said, two and two starting to come together in his head to make a rather horrifying four.

"_Meant _for you?" she repeated, "Of course it was _meant _for you. It's you who has it, isn't it?"

It was said as a statement, not a question.

Bakura palmed his face.

"You. Complete. Idiot," he said, voice muffled behind his hand.

"I beg your pardon?" she hissed.

"Damnit, I knew Gods made _mistakes, _but I never knew they made _stupid _mistakes," he growled, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I know perfectly well what I've done," she said in a bored manner, "But do tell me what _you _think I've done."

With an angry snarl, Bakura stalked past her, grabbed Ryou's wrist from where the teen was cowering in a corner and dragged him forward.

"Take a good look," he ordered.

The boredom and smugness vanished from Bastet's face.

"Who is _this_?" she asked, her voice going even more high-pitched than usual.

"His name is Ryou," Bakura said scathingly, "My light-side."

"Your host?" she screeched.

"Host, light-side, whatever! How could you make such a screw-up?" Bakura exploded, "If you _must _cast curses, at least get it right! At least get the right _person_!"

"Well how was I to know?" she shot back, "I didn't expect someone like _you _to be living with anyone-!"

"Then do some goddamned research next time!" he snapped, pushing Ryou towards her, "Just fix him, will you? Get rid of your damn curse!"

"Curses don't _work _that way," she said, "They can be broken, they can be altered, but you can't just take them away…"

"Don't give me that crap!" Bakura thundered, "He never did anything to you. So make him better, _now._"

Bastet looked at the two of them for a moment, appearing thoughtful.

"Let me see you, boy," she said finally, hooking a clawed finger under Ryou's chin and peering at him. Ryou was so terrified and bewildered that he was visibly trembling, and after a few minutes of Bastet's scrutiny he'd clearly had enough. He pulled away and promptly hid behind his yami, head hung low and hair shading his eyes.

"Timid little thing," Bastet remarked.

"Are you going to lift your stupid curse or not?" Bakura demanded impatiently. The Goddess smirked.

"No, I don't think so," she said sweetly.

Ryou's head snapped up. Both boys stared at her.

"And why the hell not?" Bakura asked dangerously.

"The point of the curse was to punish _you, _tomb-robber," she said, "To be a challenge for _you_."

"How is _this _a challenge for me?"

"I told you curses can't just disappear," she said slowly, "But every curse had its 'counter-curse' – a cure, if you like. So it's your task to find the cure for this one."

She received a blank stare.

"Put simply…" she said with a sigh, "_I'm _not going to make him better. _You _are."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" he demanded.

Bastet raised her head and sniffed delicately.

"Do I smell a mouse?" she said innocently.

Ryou gasped and dashed into the living room to protect Rupert.

"I'm not going to tell you how to do it," she said quietly when he was gone, "It's something you should do naturally. You shouldn't need to be told."

Bakura narrowed his eyes in frustration.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked again, "Why him?"

Bastet laughed softly.

"Because…" she said, "I think it bothers you more to see _him _suffer than it would if it was just you."

Bakura glared at her silently.

"Would I be correct in the assumption that you walk all over him and treat him like kitty litter?" she enquired, unfazed by his deadly glower.

"I treat him however I like," he snapped.

"I see," she said with a small, sly smile, "Then perhaps my little curse will be rather beneficial to this relationship. Balance things up a little."

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

She chuckled and turned her head as Ryou appeared back at the living room door, watching them uncertainly.

"I _mean, _tomb-robber," she said, "That even the most docile of cats will _scratch_ when treated badly."

Once again, they both stared at her with blank expressions. She laughed again.

"Well, I think I shall take my leave now…" she said, "The other Gods aren't going to take this well…"

"Wait…!" Ryou said nervously, looking absolutely petrified at having to get her attention, "Um…please…I know you say you can't get rid of the…'curse', but…could you please make all the cats stop following me?"

She shot him a quick feline grin.

"That's not a direct part of the curse," she told him, "It's just that, since you have a little bit of cat in you, they can hear you, and understand you. And cats are very intuitive creatures. You may not have said anything to them out loud or directly…but they hear you. They hear you saying 'I'm lonely'."

Ryou looked at her in bewilderment.

"If you tell them to stop coming, they'll stop," she said simply, "Anyway. Good luck, boys…!"

And she vanished in the same camera-flash-reminiscent light she had appeared in.

Silence filled the hallway once again.

"What am I going to do?" Ryou said tearfully as soon as he found his voice, "This is just terrible-!"

"Calm down," Bakura snapped, "You don't have to do _anything, _remember? She said I have to fix it."

Ryou looked at him with big, hopeful eyes, hardly daring to believe it.

"You mean…you'll do it?" he asked, clasping his hands, "You'll try and break the curse?"

"Of course I will," he said irritably.

Ryou's face broke into a relieved, delighted smile, but only for a moment. His expression clouded over slightly, and he looked uncertain.

"But…why?" he questioned tentatively.

Bakura glared darkly at the wall.

"Because…" he said lowly, "I _hate _cats."

* * *

_**End of chapter 2. It took longer than I expected . But it's also a long chapter than I expected. So it's all good. Right?**_

_**Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter one:**_

_**Destiny Quill: Ooh…we meet again. I'm so glad! (It was definitely the meddling of Bastet.) I'm glad you like this, and hope you liked this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**not the usual baka: I guess you have a point there…but, then again, Seto didn't live in Ancient Egypt. And yes, Ryou is the ultimate danger-magnet XD Thanks for reviewing.**_

_**Pork Steak the Grande: Yay, I love it when my stories cheer people up! I hope your nasty cold is getting better. Aw, poor Rupert. I'm sure Ryou would never forgive himself if he ate him XD Hope you liked this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Thanks also to Erik's Champion, Illusionwolf, FlyingShadow666, oliveoil814, Moon Comix, Nikki, Isaya831, Pegitty5, Pharaoh Felicia and Echo in the Dark. Your reviews really do make my day.**_

_**Please review and tell me what you thought!**_

_**Fiver**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Yo.**_

_**I was walking to school this morning, and I saw a boy coming out of his house and there was a cat following him XD So tempting to shout 'RYOU!' Haha. But no.**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_We cannot without becoming cats, perfectly understand the cat mind _**_-_ St George Mivart**

"What do you mean you're not going to school?" Bakura demanded the next morning.

Ryou bit his lip and stared fixedly at his (extremely milky) tea.

"Well…Bastet didn't say how far the curse will go, or how quickly it'll happen," he explained nervously, "So I _can't _go to school. Even yesterday Yuugi and the others noticed my eyes looked different. What will they do if I…grow ears or a tail or something?"

As he said it the possibility of that actually happening seemed to properly occur to him for the first time and he went slightly pale.

Bakura scowled and said nothing, even though he knew his hikari was right. If other people found out about this…well, it'd be problematic to say the least. And if a bunch of crazy Kaiba Corp scientists stumbled upon it, they would be up shit creek without a paddle. Still, he was annoyed. The only thing that really kept him going to school was the amusement he got out of torturing the fools who dared bully Ryou. Otherwise, he hated the place. Stupid rules, stupid teachers, stupid classmates. Especially the damn Pharaoh. Euch.

"So what am I supposed to tell people?" he asked irritably, "If they ask where you are."

"Just tell them I'm ill," Ryou said quietly. Bakura snorted.

"Never thought I'd see the day when _you _tell _me_ to tell a lie," he remarked, shovelling down the food Ryou put in front of him. His hikari laughed softly. Bakura frowned when he saw he'd only made one plate of breakfast.

"Why aren't you eating?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh…I have toothache," he said, holding one hand to his jaw, "I don't think I could manage anything."

Once again Bakura said nothing, but he couldn't help but find it somewhat suspicious that Ryou – who was always in perfect dental health – would develop toothache at this particular time.

…

He was seriously going to _kill _Bastet. He wondered if his power to seal souls into lead miniatures would work on a God…?

"Um…yami-san…?"

He looked up at Ryou and raised his eyebrows expectantly. _What?_

"How far…do you think this will go?" he asked, biting his lip again, "I mean…"

"I know what you mean," he said, cutting him off, "I doubt it'll go _very _far. Bastet wouldn't want any human having more cat in them than she does."

"But she had a cat's head," Ryou whimpered, his now-extremely-alarmingly-green eyes wide and scared, "I don't want a cat's head!"

"She won't want you on par with her in cat-ness either, so just calm down," he snapped, "Besides, how pathetic do you think I am? I'll have this thing fixed _long _before it gets to the cat-headed stage."

"I hope you're right…" Ryou said miserably.

"Of course I'm right," he said shortly, getting to his feet, "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. And for God's sake, _don't panic. _Even if weird things start happening, do not panic. You'll just end up hurting yourself."

"O-ok…"

"And no shedding on the furniture," he said with a slight smirk as he walked out the door, not turning back to listen to Ryou's cries of protest.

* * *

School didn't go too well. 

"Hey, Baku-Baku," Malik said, poking his arm with a pen in an unbelievably annoying manner, "What have you done to Ryou?"

"What do you mean, what have _I _done?" he growled, grabbing at the pen but missing. Malik twirled it between his fingers tauntingly.

"You're already pretty dumb, Bakura, so don't play _dumber_," he said, "Ryou never misses school. He got an _award _for perfect attendance. I think you were jealous of that and so have decided to sabotage his record. What have you done?"

"He's sick, you idiot," he said, trying not to lose his temper because he knew that was what the blonde Egyptian loved to see best.

"Really?" he said, lavender eyes mocking, "You slipped something in his food?"

"Damnit, no!" he snarled, lashing out at him with one arm but missing him as usual.

"Aw, don't get upset, Baku-Baku," Malik said with a _very _poor attempt at looking remorseful, "I just get _so_ worried about little Ryou, living with the big bad thief king. If he's unwell, then I must insist upon visiting him after school."

"Like hell you will."

"Come, come, he'll need cheering up. And somehow I can't imagine _you _dressing up as a clown for his amusement."

"Is that what _you _plan to do?"

"Ah, no, no, I don't need to. I'm a natural entertainer."

"A natural _moron, _more like," Bakura muttered. Malik poked the pen right on the end of his nose and he almost fell off his chair.

"So I'll meet you at the front gate at home-time," the blonde said with a faux-sweet grin, holding the pen at Bakura's throat as if it was some kind of weapon.

"It might be something contagious he has," Bakura said, shoving the Egyptian back so he could sit up again, "You'd catch it."

"If it is, you'll be carrying the virus already and I'll catch it anyway – since we're getting so _cosy _here," Malik said, sidling up to him.

"You're not getting in that house, damnit," he said, shrugging him off, "Believe me, he won't want to see you."

"I think you'll find it's _Ryou's _house," he said, sticking his tongue out at him, "And you should really stop speaking for him. I'll go, and if he says he wants to see me, I'll stay, if he's feeling too crappy, I'll go."

"So you'll piss off for him but not for me?" Bakura groaned, resting his head against the desk.

"Pretty much," Malik said with another one of those grins that made Bakura think of pure, undiluted evil.

* * *

As it happened, nothing the unfortunate Thief King said or did managed to deter the extremely defiant Egyptian teen. In fact, Bakura had the distinct feeling that if he'd just agreed to let Malik come visit, the blonde might have lost interest and forgotten. It was purely because he'd said 'no' that he was so damn resolute. 

…

He hated Malik sometimes.

"Is there _anything _I can tell you that will make you just go home?" he asked dully as he trudged down the street, Malik a few steps behind.

"Not really."

"Ryou's not going to be happy if I let you in the house."

"Yeah, well, since when do you care what makes Ryou happy?"

He glowered silently. He knew the blonde thought he was talking a load of absolute bull. And, granted, even if Ryou _wasn't _under a bizarre cat-curse, he would still be telling Malik to get lost. Probably.

They reached the house and went inside.

"Wait here," Bakura said shortly, leaving Malik in the porch and striding down the hallway, "Ryou, where the hell are you?"

There was no reply. Suddenly, a pure white cat shot out from the bathroom, almost tripping him up.

"Holy _crap_-!" he yelped as it dashed past him. Damnit, this was why he hated cats! They just _appeared!_

…Wait a minute.

That cat…had been…white.

Somewhat panicked thoughts started racing through his mind. Had he been wrong? _Had Ryou just turned completely into a cat?_

"I'm in here, yami-san. I'll be two seconds."

…Maybe not.

"What took you so long to answer?" he demanded as his hikari came out of the bathroom.

"I couldn't answer…" he said with a slight frown, "My mouth was full."

Bakura looked at him sceptically.

"Full of what?" he questioned, not willing to believe that Ryou had randomly decided to brush his teeth in the middle of the day.

"Water," he replied, looking away to the side, "I cut my lip. I needed to rinse my mouth out."

Bakura noticed he was holding a very bloody handkerchief in one hand.

"What did you do, chew on a steak knife?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Ryou went slightly red.

"I just bit it," he mumbled.

"Bit it?" he repeated, "Ryou, human teeth are not capable of just…"

He trailed off.

Ryou went redder.

"…Toothache, huh?" the yami said.

"Uh-huh," he murmured, staring at the floor.

"Let me see," Bakura ordered, though inwardly he wasn't sure he wanted to see what Bastet was doing to his hikari.

Ryou squirmed miserably but in the end parted his lips to reveal slightly extended, sharpened canine teeth. They weren't _horribly _obvious or protruding, but if anyone happened to give them more than a passing glance they'd notice _something _strange. And Bakura doubted people would think they were just something waiting to be fixed by corrective dentistry.

"They aren't…_so _bad…" he said half-heartedly.

Ryou didn't even answer. He just looked at him silently, with emerald eyes that now held slightly slanted ink-black pupils, his expression seeming to ask the impertinent question that he himself, being so shy and polite, would never utter: '_Who do you think you're kidding?'_

Bakura sighed. The eyes, the teeth…none of them were particularly _bad_-looking. They just weren't _human_-looking.

"Malik's here," he said bluntly, not letting the conversation dwell on this latest change any longer, "He wants to see you."

"I thought you were going to tell everyone I was ill?" Ryou questioned.

"I did. I think that's _why _he's here."

"Damn right that's why I'm here," Malik said loudly, marching into the hallway having obviously had quite enough of waiting, "What's going on?"

Ryou's face went red again and he turned his back on the two of them. Bakura growled.

"Couldn't you wait?" he snapped, "Look, he clearly doesn't want to see _anyone_-!"

"It's alright, yami-san," Ryou said quietly, "Malik's ok…we can tell Malik."

Bakura blinked.

"Are you sure?" he questioned, looking at his back doubtfully.

"Sure he's sure," Malik said, still smiling but apparently starting to understand that something was seriously amiss here.

"Yes…" Ryou said, leading the way into the living room.

"Holy-!" Bakura blurted out as they entered, "What is _this_?"

Almost every flat surface was occupied by a cat. They were lounging on the sofa and armchairs, on the floor, on top of the TV…even the radiators and magazine rack. Incidentally, Rupert's cage had been moved to a very high shelf.

"They won't go away," Ryou said dully, "I opened a window and they came in. I tell them to go but it doesn't work."

"That's because they're cats," Malik said plaintively, "They don't speak English."

Ryou and Bakura glanced at each other and then back to the blonde Egyptian.

"You should probably sit down," Ryou said, flapping his hands at a cat until it vacated a place on the sofa for Malik, who looked at him strangely for a moment before shrugging and complying.

The two white-haired teens took it in turns to relate the basic outline of what was going on. Ryou gave up about half-way through, realizing how absurd the whole story sounded, so Bakura took over, and somehow it all sounded rather more credible when he told it in his 'I-don't-do-jokes' voice.

"…So, to conclude, something I did pissed off the old Gods, and for some reason Bastet is making Ryou pay for it," he finished, scowling darkly as he thought about it, "And now I'm supposed to make it all better."

There was a silence.

"I'd ask if this was a joke, but not even you could put Ryou up to something like _this_," Malik said at length.

"Of course not," Bakura glowered.

"Let's see the damage then, Ryou," Malik said, still appearing surprisingly calm about all this. Ryou wondered if it was because he'd grown up in Egypt, as part of a family living five thousand years behind the rest of the world. Had the Gods done things like this quite frequently back in ancient times…?

"It's mostly just my eyes just now…" he mumbled. The blonde got to his feet and stood in front of him, peering into his glassy green orbs.

"Oh…and my teeth just went weird," he continued unhappily, running his small pink tongue over the fanged canines that still felt horrid and unfamiliar in his mouth, "And, as you've probably noticed, cats are following me everywhere. Bastet said if I told them to go, they'd go, but so far…"

He stopped talking when he suddenly noticed the look on Malik's face. It was a look that the blonde himself would have called a 'holy-freaking-flying-jalapenos!' look.

"I'm sorry, Ryou!" he wailed, grabbing the whitenette by the shoulders and shaking him, "I'm so sorry! I thought it was all just puberty going haywire, but I was _wrong_-!"

"Eh? M-malik, calm down!" Ryou yelped, struggling to stop the Egyptian from rattling his brain out of his skull.

On the whole, Malik was pretty down-to-earth, and could keep his head even in stressful situations. But what both white-haired teens had forgotten was that he lost it pretty easily when one of his friends was in a predicament that he couldn't help them with.

"Malik, none of this is _your _fault," Ryou said firmly, "And because it was meant to be Bakura-san who was cursed, Bastet said he has to fix it. So you don't need to worry. I'm sure he'll fix it."

At this, Malik looked at him blankly for a moment and then recovered suspiciously quickly.

"You know what? You're right," he said with a bright smile, "We'll all put our faith in the great Thief King and everything will be fine. And about the cats? Maybe they don't understand you because you're talking to them as a _human _would talk to cats – you might need to talk to them on equal terms."

"Oh…I don't know how cats talk to cats, but I'll give it a try, I guess…"

"Good, good. But cats like their privacy, y'know. Why don't you head through to your room and ask them to get of your case?"

"Um…ok…"

Obviously rather bewildered by this sudden change in temperament, Ryou left the room, his entourage of cats quickly following.

"…What was that all abou- _woah!_" Bakura started to ask before giving a yell as Malik tackled him to the ground, "What the _hell, _tomb-keeper?"

"You no-good bastard!" the blonde yelled, obviously fuming with rage, "Damnit, if I still had the Millennium Rod you would be _so freaking impaled right now_!"

"What's your _problem_?" Bakura bellowed, trying to shove him off but only provoking the slighter teen to shove his face into the carpet and twist his arm up behind his back, "Don't make me kill you, Ishtar!"

"I'd have killed you already if you weren't the one needed to break this stupid curse," Malik informed him, twisting his arm further and giving his hair a sharp, painful tug with his free hand, "Man, you are such an _arsehole! _Ryou's so nice it doesn't even _occur _to him to blame you for this, but I'll be damned if I let you away with it. Will you need all four limbs intact to break the damn thing? Cos I'm _seriously _considering chopping one off."

"Don't bother," he growled, struggling again. This time he almost fought his way up, but then Malik plopped himself firmly on his lower back, effectively weighing him right back down.

"Then maybe I'll chop off something else," he hissed in his ear, the sincerity in his voice making Bakura gulp.

"As if you would," he retorted with a confidence he didn't really feel, "Not even _you_ are that twisted."

"I was talking about your tongue, Bakura," Malik said, and he could hear the sardonic smirk in his voice, "Why, what were you thinking?"

"Shut up and get off of me," he growled.

"No, not quite yet," he said gaily, digging his nails into Bakura's arm in a way the Thief King thought very childish (and painful), "You listen up. If you don't make Ryou better soon, you're a dead man. You got him into this mess, and you sure as hell better get him out of it. Damnit, don't you feel any guilt at all? He's done _nothing wrong – _you're the one who's been a royal prick throughout history! Why should he have to suffer for it?"

"Of course I feel guilty about it, you schizo," Bakura snarled, "I feel like the biggest shit in the universe, alright? I wanted Bastet to transfer her stupid curse onto me, but she wouldn't. Because she _knew _I'd hate this more."

There was a pause, and then he blinked in surprise as he felt the extremely angry tomb-keeper slowly release his now-throbbing arm and shuffle off of him.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" he asked incredulously, scrutinizing his face as if his expression would give away whether he was lying or not.

"What?" Bakura said irritably, sitting up and rubbing his arm.

"You said that you hated Ryou being cursed more than you'd hate being cursed yourself," the blonde said, "True or false?"

"…True," he muttered grudgingly, "What about it?"

Malik looked at him for a moment before grinning and laughing in evident amusement.

"_What?_" Bakura demanded with a warning glare.

"That's so sweet, Bakura," he said, still laughing, "Who would have thought that the cold-hearted Thief King could be thawed out…?"

"Huh? Who's _thawed out_?" he hissed, eyes narrowed.

"Oh come on," Malik said, sticking his tongue out teasingly, "He's grown on you, hasn't he? Before you used to say he was just your 'host', like he was…y'know, negligible. Not worth it. You wouldn't have bothered your ass helping him if he got cursed. You would have just laughed. But now you _like him_!"

"Don't be stupid," he snapped, folding his arms moodily.

"Aw, don't be embarrassed. And don't bother denying it, cos it is _so _obvious," Malik announced, laughing again. Bakura shook his head.

"Christ, you really _are _a schizo," he said disbelievingly, "One minute you're attacking me, the next you're giggling like a schoolgirl. Are you sure Mariku was the only deranged alternate personality you created?"

"Quite sure, Mr. No-Longer-Cold-And-Heartless," the Egyptian replied, getting to his feet, "Just stop being such a jerk to him, huh? He probably thinks you still hate him."

"And he'd be right."

"Don't lie to me, now! Cos I can see you've warmed ri-ight up to him, and you just want to take care of him, just like he's a little…lost…"

"Don't say it."

"A little lost…"

"_Don't. Say. It."_

"A little lost kitten!" Malik finished triumphantly, throwing his blonde head back and laughing with fiendish delight.

"It's not funny," Bakura grumbled.

"Of course not," he said, stifling his sniggers, "But seriously. Make him better, or I'll have the Pharaoh on your case."

His face was deadly solemn again. Bakura wondered if he should suggest to Rishid to invest in a shrink for this kid.

Just then, Ryou burst back into the room, grinning widely (and so flashing those sharp little teeth).

"It worked!" he said happily, "The cats are all gone!"

"Told you so," Malik replied with a similar smile before looking at his watch, "Uh-oh, I was supposed to be cooking dinner tonight…Isis is going to bite my head off."

"So go home!" Bakura said exasperatedly.

"Will do," he said, rolling his eyes, "I'll ask Isis if she has any idea how to solve this curse thing, too. She knows a lot about weird stuff like that."

"Oh, b-but I don't really want other people to know about this…" Ryou protested faintly.

"Have no fear," Malik said, tapping his nose, "I've long since mastered the art of discretion."

Bakura couldn't imagine how the blonde would get away with asking his extremely intelligent sister how to break a cat curse without having to explain to her his need to know such a thing, but he said nothing.

"At least you won't miss too much school, Ryou," Malik said suddenly, "We break up for the Christmas holidays in a few days, right? Please tell me that's true and I didn't just dream we got told that."

"No, that's right," Ryou said with a weak smile, "This will be an…unusual Christmas…"

"It'll be just like every other Christmas, because Bakura will have solved this whole thing by then. _Right?_" the Egyptian teen said, looking towards the Thief King threateningly.

"Of course," he huffed.

"Great. I'll see you guys later, then."

"Wait," Bakura said, "At school tomorrow, tell them I caught whatever Ryou has. I'm not going in."

"Sure thing…"

And then he was gone. There was silence for a moment.

"I guess he didn't take that so well…" Ryou said with a nervous laugh, "He sounded kind of mad."

"You heard all that?" Bakura questioned.

"Um…yes. You were both shouting pretty loud."

"Hn. I wouldn't worry too much about anything _that _head-case says. By the way, what did you say to those cats to make them get lost?"

"Oh…um…" Ryou looked away shyly, "I just told them…I don't mind being lonely. Being lonely is better than just being alone."

Bakura looked at him silently for a moment before whacking him lightly over the head.

"Eh?" Ryou squeaked, blinking, "W-what…?"

"Enough with this 'lonely' crap," the yami commanded, "You don't have to be lonely anymore."

Ryou stared up at him, jade-green eyes large and bewildered.

"Thank you," he said finally, his pale face flushing slightly in happiness.

* * *

_**End of chapter 3. Ah...Malik's so evil XD When I was reading over this and chapter two, I thought it really seemed like he was flirting with Bakura at parts XD But no, definitely not. He just loves driving him crazy.**_

_**Ok, I lied. Once again, this is dragging on longer than I anticipated. So it's now probably going to be six chapters long. No idea when I'll finish it, but I feel like it's not going to be before Christmas. Gomen. It shouldn't be too long, though.**_

_**On a random note…does anyone remember that cat Mr Tinkles from the movie 'Cats and Dogs'? He was all white and fluffy and evil. I think if Bakura turned into a cat…that would be him. Ryou would be more like Marie from 'The Aristocats' XD**_

_**Thank you to Kurama-ness, FlyingShadow666, Echo in the Dark (**__Bakura dressed as Lara Croft? Most disturbing mental image EVER! XD__**), Nikki, ArtemisFowlTheThird, Moon Comix, Destiny Quill (**__oops…my English teacher would kill me for that! Thanks for pointing it out__**), shloop! (**__for some reason, that review made me almost die with laughter. Ryou's a ninja! XD__**), not the usual baka (**__it's his deeds from Ancient Egypt he's being punished for. Seto wasn't too bad back then :D__**), Fedishi, mystralwind, Erik's Champion, Coucoune, Argh (**__no, it wasn't a reference to anything, really…I just thought Rupert was an awesome name for a mouse :3__**) and Pork Steak the Grande (**__oh no! Don't cry! Just think of the cuteness of kitty-boy Ryou XD__**) for your wonderful reviews. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I read them :3**_

_**Sorry for the hurried review replies, but it's late and I have Christmas presents to wrap. Don't we all.**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Fiver**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hello all, sorry it took so l**__**ong. Exams and all that. **_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**Chapter 4**_

"_If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." _- **Mark Twain**

The house was almost scarily quiet, especially compared to the earlier pandemonium which had shaken the small bungalow to the very foundations and probably woken several of the neighbours.

In the cheery, fresh morning sunlight, Bakura was sitting moodily on the floor outside Ryou's bedroom door. He had his back against the wall and his chin resting on the heel of his hand as he glared dully at nothing in particular, once again pondering if there was any kind of vengeance he could wreak against the Old Gods without incurring even worse repercussions.

It had been almost a week now since Bastet had cast her nasty magic over the house. To Ryou's credit, he had dealt with it pretty well, up to a point. No matter what strange changes his body and mind went through – increased sensitivity to cold, a frantic reaction to sudden movements and noises, and freakishly sharpened reflexes to name but a few – he hadn't panicked too much. He always just said 'it's ok; you'll fix it soon, right yami-san?' And then he would smile that smile full of horribly misplaced trust, the smile that told Bakura that he had complete and utter faith in him.

But as the days went by, and the strange changes didn't stop and it became increasingly obvious that Bakura had absolutely no idea where to even start with finding the solution to their problem, it was clear that it was becoming a growing strain for the unfortunate little cat-boy to keep that faith.

The final straw had come earlier that morning. It had been around four am, and still dark. Bakura, lying awake, had heard his hikari come out of his bedroom and pad quietly across to the bathroom. The bathroom door had closed, the light had snapped on…

And then a scream, the likes of which Bakura would not have thought his quiet little hikari capable of, tore through the house, reminding Bakura of the idea of the Angel of Death tearing through the streets and claiming the lives of all the first-born (which, ironically, also happened in Ancient Egypt, he had found himself thinking dazedly). It had shattered the silence like a crystal ball getting walloped by a mallet. It had been a wholly alarming sound – like a combination of an angry screech owl and a very frightened guinea pig.

Before his mind even had time to properly register the appropriate feelings of shock, concern and worry, his body had leapt from the bed and lightning-bolted down the hallway to demand what was amiss. Amazingly, however, Ryou was quicker, and Bakura arrived just in time to see his bedroom door slamming shut as he dashed inside with a swish of…a _tail?_

…Bugger.

That had been around four hours ago. Since then, Bakura had kept a constant vigil outside Ryou's door. For some reason or another, the boy was refusing to let him in. This was fairly disturbing in itself – Ryou _never _disobeyed him. And yet here he was. King of Thieves or not, he had spent half an hour hammering the door to a teenager's bedroom and demanding entry, and the other three and a half sitting sulkily on the none-too-comfortable floor, trying to not to doze off and occasionally shooting threats over his shoulder about what would happen if Ryou didn't come out soon. And nothing was working.

He growled quietly. People did say that cats were supposed to be more like women, so he hoped it was only due to the curse that his hikari was starting to act like a girl suffering from severe PMS.

"Ryou, I am one step away from smashing your door down," he called warningly.

"Please, yami-san, don't," Ryou said miserably, sounding as if he was directly behind the wall. His voice was muffled and slightly shaky, as if he were crying. Bakura loathed to admit it, but he couldn't help but soften somewhat at that thought.

"Why won't you let me in?" he asked, voice less harsh than before, "What's happened?"

"Nothing!" the teen choked in reply, but it was a blatant lie.

"Do you think I'm going to laugh or something?" he said, unable to keep the annoyance out of his tone, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not finding this predicament particularly amusing."

There was a pause.

"I know you won't _laugh_…" Ryou said at length, sounding nervous, "It's just…you might…y'know…"

"_No, _I _don't _know."

"You'll get angry!" he blurted out, "You hate cats so much, and I'm just becoming more and more like one! And I don't want you to hate me any more than already-!"

He stopped short, perhaps realizing what he'd just said. Bakura frowned, also realizing what he'd just said.

"Ryou, just open the door," he said finally, "I won't get angry. Actually, no, I probably _will _get angry, but not at you. It's not your fault this is going on. I'm not so dense that I couldn't work that much out."

There was another lengthy silence, and then he heard the scraping of the rusty bar of the old-fashioned lock on Ryou's door being drawn back. Then there was nothing. After a moment of dubious waiting, he got to his feet and tried the door-handle. The door swung open easily.

Inside the room, the blind was still down and the curtains drawn and only very little light was filtering in. He stepped inside and had to squint to pinpoint Ryou's location. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, head down and looking fairly forlorn. And, indeed, there was a long, white cat's tail poking out from the waistband of his pyjama bottoms, curled around him and resting in his lap. Bakura winced.

"I guess I can't really yell at you for screaming this time," he said as casually as he could, sitting down next to him.

"That's not all," Ryou said very, very quietly.

"What else is there?" Bakura asked, trying to ignore the mounting dread in the pit of his stomach.

Ryou said nothing, but he kept scratching at his head uncomfortably, and at length Bakura peered closely at the area his hand kept straying to. He almost fell off the bed when he saw a pair of small, perfectly formed white cat ears protruding from his fluffy white hair.

"Holy crap," was the first thing out of his mouth as he gawped at the catty appendages.

"M-my thoughts exactly," Ryou whispered.

After a moment longer of staring, Bakura got to his feet again, crossed the room and drew the curtains back.

"Yami-san, don't…!" Ryou whimpered in protest as he fumbled for the blind cord. Bakura ignored him and tugged the cord until the blind flew up and morning sunlight streamed into the room. Ryou cried out and raised a hand to his eyes as the sudden brightness flooded them.

Bakura bit his lip slightly. The cat-like add-ons were, naturally, quite alarming the first time one saw them. And they looked weird. Of course they looked weird. And he despised cats with a fierce, illimitable passion that almost rivalled his hatred for the Pharaoh and, as of a week ago, Bastet.

So why was it, when he looked at his hikari just now, all he could think about was how unbearably cute he was?

After a few seconds Ryou lowered his hand and looked at him with those eyes that now bore a definite feline slant. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could make a sound a rather podgy brown cat hopped up to the window. It had something in its mouth, which it dropped onto the windowsill. It then mewed something in Ryou's direction.

"_No, _a dead bird would _not _make me feel better!" the boy shouted wretchedly, throwing a pillow at the glass. The cat sniffed in a sort of 'suit yourself' manner and strutted off, tail held high.

"You can understand them?" Bakura questioned.

"I get their general meaning," Ryou said, hugging his knees to his chest despondently, "It's still a little garbled, but I hear them clearer every day."

Neither of them spoke for a while. Bakura stood by the window, silently watching his hikari and trying to get used to those pointy ears and that sleek, twitching tail. Ryou shifted unhappily under his gaze.

"I wish you wouldn't look at me, yami-san…" he murmured, "I feel so horrible…"

Bakura frowned, and for a brief moment he wanted to say something to make him feel better, and tell him that he didn't look horrible, just freakishly adorable and worryingly huggable.

But, of course, none of those fleeting thoughts made it to his mouth.

"Ryou, I've told you about this before," he snapped instead, "If you call me 'yami-san' one more time, I'm going to kick your head in."

Ryou winced and hung his head.

"Sorry…yami-sama…" he mumbled.

Bakura thumped his head against the window.

"That…is not…what I meant," he ground out. Ryou looked up in surprise, blinking confusedly in a painfully endearing fashion.

"Um…what _did _you mean, then…?" he asked uncertainly.

Bakura gave an exasperated sigh and turned away as if annoyed, but really it was to hide the streak of pink running across the bridge of his nose.

"Take a wild guess," he said bitingly, "My _name _is not 'yami'. It doesn't matter what honorific you stick on the end of it - it's still not my name, _is it?_"

He turned his head slightly to see Ryou out of the corner of his eye, and he could see he was looking at him doubtfully.

"Bakura…san?" he tried meekly after a moment. Bakura gave a laborious sigh.

"I suppose it's an improvement…" he muttered.

"Um…I don't remember you ever saying I could call you-"

"Be quiet. I did," Bakura said defiantly, striding past him and out of the room, "Come on, I'm hungry. Cook something."

Ryou made a strange, shrill noise of protest.

"W-what…?" he questioned, looking disbelieving, "Cook something? But…I mean…how can you expect me to just carry on as if nothing is wrong? How can you tell me to act like everything is _normal_?"

Bakura folded his arms and shot him a warning look, not liking that he had answered back to a command.

"Tell me, Ryou," he said coolly, "_What else can you do?_"

Ryou looked at him, clearly aghast, before closing the bedroom door so, at the very least, Bakura wouldn't see him cry.

* * *

Malik came over around midday. He raised a sandy-blonde eyebrow when they went into the kitchen, noticing that the normally impeccably tidy room was looking unusually cluttered. There was a large and ever-growing pile of used plates, cups and cutlery in the sink – since Ryou had developed a distinct dislike of water and getting wet and wasn't wanting to do much washing up. Malik was about to ask why Bakura didn't do it, but then silently laughed at himself for even thinking such a stupid question.

"I might as well get straight to the point. The news isn't good," he said as they all sat at the kitchen table, he and Bakura drinking coffee and Ryou sipping a glass of milk (Malik couldn't help but remember that the whitenette used to hate milk), "Isis knows nothing about this thing. Like, nothing at all. She looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her-"

"Understandably," Bakura muttered.

"-And said that she'd never heard of the Gods taking revenge on someone in such a direct way. Apparently in ancient times they'd just make the harvest a bit stingy or something. I guess they have so little to do now, since no one worships them anymore, that they can afford to pull tricks like this – and there's no old, crumbling spell-book that'll tell us how to fix it."

His words were met with silence. Ryou put down his glass, folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them, staring despondently out at nothing.

"I guess you've had no luck at this end either, then?" Malik asked with a nervous laugh as the unhappy atmosphere in the room – and, indeed, the whole house – threatened to swallow him up too.

"None at all," Bakura growled, "I mean, where am I supposed to start? Bastet didn't leave me a single clue or lead. The counter-curse could be anything! I might have to sacrifice a goat or fight a crocodile or…"

"I don't see what relevance either of those things would have to Ryou," Malik said, rolling his eyes.

"Then what _would _be relevant? What do you think I'm meant to do, open a cattery?" Bakura snarled.

Ryou stood up abruptly and walked out of the room without a word. The two stared after him for a moment.

"…You upset him," Malik said accusingly in a faintly sing-song voice.

"What the hell did I do?" Bakura grumbled, "I swear, he's been having mood swings every five seconds lately…"

"Or maybe he's just really very miserable, but trying to keep up his smiley-face as always, but discovering he can't keep it up for long?" Malik said exasperatedly, "Gods, you're dense."

"_No, _you're just like some preppy _girl, _interpreting everyone's actions like a teen agony aunt," Bakura snapped at him. Malik scowled at him, and the white-haired yami couldn't lie and say that he didn't feel slightly under threat. The blonde didn't get genuinely pissed off very often, and the last time he'd got that way Bakura had had his face mashed into the carpet.

"Life's so cruel," Malik remarked, folding his arms and tilting his chair back, "Ryou's such a little ray of sunshine – so many people would _love _to have him around, and spoil him rotten. So how come he got stuck with _you, _one of the few people in the world who has it in them to treat him like crap?"

"What do you mean 'how did _he _get stuck with _me_'?" Bakura snarled, "I think you'll find it happened the other way around."

"Like hell," the Egyptian teen shot back, "He was just a cute little kid, wandering around, minding his own business – suddenly daddy gives him a souvenir from Pharaoh-Land and _bam! _Up pops evil spirit number one. I think _you'll _find that makes him the victim."

"Shut up," Bakura muttered, downing his coffee in one and not caring when it scalded his mouth.

"I'm right, and don't you forget it. But anyway, we have an even bigger problem than your megalomania right now. Are you _sure _Bastet didn't give you any clues about how to solve this thing?"

"She gave me _nothing_," the white-haired yami said again, "All she said was…"

He stopped suddenly and frowned.

"…You've just remembered something, haven't you?" Malik said with a deadpan look.

"I remember she said it was 'something I should do naturally' – 'without being told'," Bakura said slowly, thinking back, "But _that _doesn't help much."

The blonde palmed his face.

"You really _are _dense, Baku-Baku," he groaned.

"_What? _Why?"

Malik sighed and got to his feet.

"Come on, let's go see Ryou…" he said, heading for the living room.

"Huh? Damnit, Ishtar, don't just say those things and then walk away-!"

Grumbling venomously to himself, he followed the Egyptian teen down the hallway. Entering the living room, he saw Ryou curled up on the sofa in a shockingly cat-like fashion. Malik sat down next to his head.

"Ry-ou, don't look sad," he said, "You're the only source of bubbly, happy, positive energy there is under this roof. If we lose that, we'll fall into an abyss of depression."

"Hm….I guess I just don't feel my usual self right now," Ryou mumbled, one finger absently tracing the patterns on the sofa cover.

"The ears and tail getting you down?" the blonde asked sympathetically.

"Wouldn't they get _anyone _down?"

"Aw, but you're so cute," Malik pouted, tugging at the little cat ears. Ryou batted his hands away but looked up at him curiously.

"You think so?" he questioned dubiously.

"Yeah, you're like an adorable little plush-doll," he grinned, "Come on, sit up and cheer up. It'll all be over before you know it."

Ryou smiled faintly and obliged, pulling himself into a sitting position. His hair was mussed-up from lounging around and he rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

"Aw you're so damn cute!" Malik laughed, grabbing him in a tight hug as if he really was a cuddly toy.

"Malik, let go!" Ryou giggled, squirming ineffectually.

"No. You're too snuggly."

"I'm what…?"

Bakura watched the whole little scene from the doorway, not liking it one bit. He hated Malik when he deliberately annoyed him, tried to get a rise out of him, and attacked him in one of his frenzied tantrums. But he hated him even more at times like this, when he was so comfortable and friendly around Ryou, and told him he was cute without a second thought, and reached out and touched him and hugged him without the slightest inhibition.

He hated it, because Malik made it look so easy. And he hated it because he knew he could never do the same.

It made Ryou smile even at a time like this…and he couldn't do it.

He folded his arms and glowered. The way he was thinking, it was almost like he was _jealous. _As if. Hell, if Malik wanted to take Ryou home and cuddle him and feed him cookies, he could _have _him!

…

Ok, he mentally conceded, maybe he was a little jealous.

Since he was just so bitter and mean, he decided to leave them to it and not join in and try to learn a few things – like how to be nice.

He went back to the kitchen and sat down, moodily half-listening to the banter going on in the other room. Malik was good at getting Ryou to laugh. At least the blonde's apparent insanity was useful for something, he supposed.

Due to the little fiasco in the small hours of the morning, neither he nor Ryou had had much sleep last night, and he was tired. But he shouldn't be _sleeping, _he should be trying to come up with some sort of solution to this big problem – this big problem that seemed to be getting bigger every day.

He tried to focus on following a logical train of thought that would lead him to a logical solution, but - as anyone who has gone to school after only five hours sleep will know – when one is tired, one's thoughts are not entirely at your command. He found himself thinking, instead, about all of the possible implications of the developing cat-curse (as the anomaly had been dubbed). Ryou's sudden shine to milk was odd, but not likely to cause a problem unless he suddenly became lactose intolerant. The eyes, ears and tail were obviously going to cause a few difficulties – they were immediately noticeable and so, if this thing didn't get fixed, Ryou was probably going to refuse to leave the house for the rest of his life.

Bakura wondered vaguely if all those people who lived holed up in their unclean houses with an ever-growing colony of cats _weren't _actually crazy – just suffering from the same unnerving condition as his unfortunate little hikari.

And that weird aversion to water. If he didn't want to get wet, how the hell was he going to keep himself clean…?

Bakura's eye twitched slightly. If Ryou started licking himself, he was _walking out of here._

His thoughts remained in this general area for the next hour or so, after which Malik appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing, hiding in here?" he asked, arching an eyebrow disapprovingly.

"You seemed to have the situation under control…" Bakura replied with a shrug.

"What 'situation'?"

"A depressed Ryou."

"That's not a situation, you moron. It's…y'know, a 'friend in need' and all that."

"Friend?" Bakura repeated with an amused smirk, "Interesting choice of words."

"He'd be the best friend you've ever had if you gave him half a chance, and you damn well know it," Malik snapped, "Besides, I thought we already established that you do indeed like him, deep down in your icy abyss of a heart."

"Did we, now?" Bakura sneered with slow sarcasm.

Malik looked thoughtful, and Bakura felt nervous because of it.

"Unless…" the blonde said at length, "_Unless_…it's not as a _friend _that you 'like' him?"

"What's going on in your deranged brain now?" Bakura groaned, covering his eyes with one hand. He heard Malik laugh in a frighteningly school-girl-gossip way.

"I think Baku-Baku's got a little cru-ush…" he sang quietly, knowing that the white-haired yami would actually kill him if Ryou heard.

"Don't. Talk. Shit."

"I wasn't," Malik said with a smug grin, "He said you've finally deemed it acceptable for him to call you by your name now. I guess that's progress. Kind of."

"It was just getting annoying, hearing 'yami-san' every two seconds," he muttered.

"Yeah, sure," the Egyptian teen said dismissively, "Just _stop _being such an _ass _to him, got it? I mean, it was kind of cute at first – y'know how boys always tease the ones they like? But seriously. We're not kids anymore, and the 'I don't give a damn' act is _really _starting to get old-"

"Will you _shut it?_" Bakura snarled, "You don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Whatever you say," Malik said with a melodramatic sigh, "But for what it's worth…I'm pretty sure your little kitten 'likes' you, too."

Bakura frowned and was about to ask him just what that was supposed to mean, when Ryou suddenly popped up in the doorway too.

"Sorry," he said, going faintly pink, "Am I interrupting?"

"No," they both said at the same time (though Malik said it in a distinctly brighter tone).

"Oh…ok. Then…um…I was wondering if I could ask a _huge _favour of you, Malik," he said, clasping his hands together and looking so damn sweet that Bakura got the feeling he could ask Malik to jump out a window and he'd just say 'which floor?'

"What's that?" the blonde asked.

"I was wondering…if you'd take Rupert home with you," Ryou said, quickly adding, "Just for a little while, of course, just until this curse gets fixed. I'm really sorry, but please, it would mean so much to me…"

"Rupert? The mouse?" Malik questioned, "Why?"

Bakura looked at him disbelievingly.

"And you call _me _stupid," he said, shaking his head. Malik looked at him blankly for a moment before his mouth morphed into an 'o' of realization.

"Ah…I get it. Cats and mice don't go too well together, right?" he said with a sheepish grin.

"Right," Ryou said, looking exceptionally unhappy, "I'm just worried, because of all these cats around, and…and me, too. I mean, the cat-changes are becoming more extreme, and really, _really _weird thoughts go through my head sometimes, and…" he went bright red and babbled on when they both raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't know what's going to happen next, and…and…well, what if I _ate him_?"

There was a silence.

"That would be unthinkably disturbing," Bakura declared after a moment, "Ishtar, you're taking the mouse."

"Naturally," Malik said, nodding hastily.

"Thanks…" Ryou said listlessly, leading the way back to the living room.

After some considerable upheaval (more than Bakura would have thought necessary – and indeed possible – for the sake of one small rodent) Malik was laden with Rupert's cage and a bulging bag filled with the surprisingly high-maintenance creature's required food and equipment.

"So how often do I need to clean this thing out?" the blonde asked, peering through the bars at the layer of sawdust on the cage floor.

"Once a week, maybe twice," Ryou said, "And you're supposed to change his water every day. And just fill up his food bowl when…you know what, there's a book in the bag. It's not too difficult, and hopefully you won't need to take care of him for too long."

"Hopefully, for his sake," Malik said grimly, "Not to be macabre, Ryou, but I've never been the best at 'taking care' of things. As past events demonstrate, I'm more of a 'destroyer' than a 'nurturer'."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ryou said with a pallid smile before poking a finger into the cage, "See you later, little guy. Don't worry, this house will be one hundred percent cat-free when you get back."

A somewhat sombre goodbye was said at the front door, and then silence descended upon the house once again.

Ryou returned to his seat in the kitchen, pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly. Bakura watched him, not knowing just what the hell he was supposed to do. He knew it was absolutely breaking the kid's heart to be separated from his beloved pet for a while – after all, the affection he lavished on that animal didn't really have any other outlet – but, while he was aware of that, he couldn't really _understand _it, and didn't know how to make it better.

He snorted quietly to himself. Fancy _him _wanting to make Ryou feel better. Oh, how the tables had turned.

But what difference did it make? He didn't know how to joke or say nice things or offer any sort of comfort. And he wasn't going to throw the last few specks of his dignity to the winds trying to learn.

With a frustrated sigh, he strode across the room to the sink, turned the tap on until the water spurted out with more force than was really needed and proceeded to attack the nearest dish with the wash cloth with an almost furious fervour. Ryou turned around slowly to look at him.

"…What are you doing?" he asked at length, head tilted to one side. Bakura forcefully banished all thoughts of cuteness from his mind.

"What does it look like?" he snapped. Ryou looked too tired and miserable to be intimidated by him right now.

"It looks like you're washing the dishes," he said plaintively.

"Full marks for observation," Bakura said dryly.

"But…why?"

"Because you haven't done it for about three days and aren't showing any sign of doing it any time soon?" he suggested irritably.

Ryou looked at him for a long moment with those big green eyes with those inky-black slanted pupils. Bakura kept his gaze firmly fixed on the latest plate to suffer the wrath of the wash cloth. Those cat-eyes unnerved him ever so slightly, because it sometimes felt like they could peer right inside of him.

He was suddenly aware that Ryou had got up and now stood at his shoulder. He turned and frowned at him quizzically, and was somewhat astonished to see that he was sporting a wide grin, as bright as any he'd given Malik.

"I'll dry," Ryou said cheerfully, grabbing the dishtowel. He grimaced slightly when water ran off the crockery onto his hands, but he seemed content enough, and inexplicably happy. Bakura felt he must have missed something.

"What perked you up?" he asked as carelessly as he could. Ryou giggled.

"It's just, you _never _usually help with the cleaning," he explained lightly, ignoring or not noticing the slight scowl Bakura shot him as he wondered whether or not that was an accusation, "And just now…it's nice."

Bakura looked at him, faintly puzzled.

"Nice?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Ryou affirmed, nodding, "It…I don't know, it feels _normal. _Splitting the chores, like normal housemates, like…"

He trailed off suddenly and bit his lip. Bakura resisted the urge to tell him he really needed to stop doing that.

"Like 'normal friends'?" he suggested instead, feeling his afore-mentioned final scraps of dignity flying right out the window. Ryou blinked and then flushed slightly.

"Yeah," he said shyly, picking up a stack of dried plates and putting them away in the cupboard.

Bakura couldn't help but roll his eyes. There had been nothing at all in his last statement to insinuate that that was how he thought of things, but…well, then why was Ryou's face so damn pink?

He exhaled noisily. Well, maybe it was better this way. At least it meant he didn't have to come right out and explain the stupid things that were on his mind.

"Um…Bakura-san…"

"Christ, just call me by my _name, _will you? I'm not going to call _you _anything fancy."

"Sorry. I was just wondering, and I don't mean to sound impatient or anything, but…how long do you think it'll be before you…um…y'know…fix this?"

He indicated in the general direction of his eyes, the ears, and the tail.

"I need to do Christmas shopping and stuff, you see," he hurried on when Bakura didn't reply, "And I just wondered if you knew…"

He stopped short as Bakura clamped a firm, soap-sudded hand on his shoulder.

"Here's the thing, Ryou," he said with a frankness that did not come naturally to him, "I _don't _know. I don't know at all."

Ryou looked at him for another drawn-out moment, and then he seemed to lose that cheery glow that had surrounded him mere seconds ago. Bakura's hand was still on his shoulder, and he reached up and held onto it tightly, and it was clear that he'd given up on trying staying positive. He started to cry softly. Bakura didn't have a clue what to do now, and looked from side to side as if the solution would be written somewhere on the walls. Luckily, Ryou took the initiative, thought perhaps not consciously. Just like a cat will seek warmth and comfort from another living body, he shuffled forward and commenced crying into his yami's shoulder.

And for the first time ever, Bakura just let him.

* * *

_**Whee, finally done :D**_

_**Ah, poor Ryou. And poor Rupert, at the mercy of Malik's (very limited) animal-caring skills XD**_

_**Destiny Quill: LOL, your little conversations with various characters seriously make me almost die laughing XD (gasp) how could you forget Mr Tinkles? He's all white, fluffy, evil and so very Bakura-like XD One quote in particular says it all: 'Evil…does not wear…a BONNET!' (Cue geek- laugh) Aha…yes. Oh, I love your reviews so very much – how you actually break down the chapter. And more often than not your review is much wittier than the chapter it's about. You're so great :D Thanks lots and lots for your undying loyalty, despite my sudden changing of fandom XD Hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**My Deteriorating Sanity: You think I'm going to complain about a review for every chapter? XD I love your ideas of their cat-forms, but if it was a comedy I'd definitely make Bakura all fluffy and adorable just to shatter his ego XD I've also concluded that Mariku would be Macavity from 'Cats', purely because they have, like, the exact same hairdo. Anyway, thanks for your great reviews, hope you liked chapter 4.**_

_**Thanks also go out to…**_

_**Moon Comix, FlyingShadow666, Kurama-ness, ahilty, mystralwind, Echo in the Dark, Fedishi, DarkScytheQueen, Youko's Kitsune Girl, Raefele and oliveoil814. I cannot express how awesome you all are :D**_

_**Anyhoo.**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Fiver**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**I'm back…at last.**_

_**Chapter 5**_

The next few days were disrupted by two rather significant phone-calls.

The first came on a dreary, horrible day – so dreary and horrible that it seemed as if the weather was being courteous enough to mimic and thus harmonise with the general mood inside the house. Rain lashed noisily against the windows and every so often a roll of thunder would crash overhead, shattering the sky with its almighty boom.

Every dish in the house had been washed (some more than once), but the cheering-up effect of this was apparently only temporary, since Ryou was currently curled up under a blanket next to the radiator (he seemed to be feeling cold all the time now, and nothing could stop him shivering) looking sensationally depressed and gazing blankly at the television screen, on which some aimless sitcom was flickering. Bakura was watching him uneasily from the doorway. He'd never seen Ryou like this before – emotionally, that is; obviously he'd never seen him with a cat tail and ears before – and he couldn't help but be slightly on-edge, because he was never sure what the teen was going to do next. Admittedly the most unpredictable thing he'd done so far was start flicking absently at the curtain tassels, but Bakura wasn't letting his guard down.

He was just starting to wonder how difficult (and image-destroying) it would be to learn how to use the vacuum cleaner – _anything _to stop Ryou looking so disturbingly Emo! – when the phone rang loudly. It wasn't Bakura's custom to answer it, since he was still highly distrusting of most modern technology, so he ignored its summoning cry. Unfortunately, Ryou seemed to be doing the same – he didn't move to answer the demanding appliance, and merely continued staring listlessly at the young couple on the TV screen, who were bickering in what Bakura could only assume was supposed to be an amusing manner.

"Are you going to get that or what?" Bakura snapped as the repetitive ringing noise started to grate on him. Ryou blinked and looked up, as if he hadn't really noticed the sound until just now. He then shot his yami a sour look – to Bakura's considerable surprise and disgruntlement – before dragging himself out from under his blanket and picking up the phone.

"Hello?" he mumbled without much enthusiasm, "Yes, of course this is Ryou…"

Suddenly, he sat bolt-upright, and some of the spark returned to his eyes. Bakura frowned curiously, wondering what could have induced that all of a sudden.

"Hi, dad!" the teen cried in delight and apparent astonishment.

This customary delight had always been a mystery to Bakura, since he was under the serious impression that Ryou's father wasn't exactly eligible for the Daddy of The Year award, but the astonishment, he could understand. They were lucky to hear from Mr. Bakura Senior more frequently than just every major holiday. Bakura wondered vaguely if perhaps this was just Ryou's yearly Christmas phone-call, but the holiday calls did tend to come _on _the appropriate holiday, so it seemed a little early for that.

Ryou chattered down the phone, sounding happier and more talkative than he had in a good while. Bakura was filled with unease, however, because he had a distinct idea as to where this conversation was headed.

"So, dad, where exactly are you?" Ryou asked. A few sentences of reply buzzed back to him, but Bakura couldn't hear what was said. However, his hikari suddenly uttered the very words he had been dreading.

"_You're coming to visit for Christmas?"_

A muscle under Bakura's left eye convulsed slightly. Not good.

"You're serious?" Ryou almost squealed with joy, "I mean, that's great, it's-"

"Ryou," Bakura hissed, crouching down directly behind him and speaking into his ear, "He can't come."

The slighter teen twisted his head around and frowned up at him, nonplussed.

"And why not?" he asked quietly, half-covering the mouthpiece.

"You _know _why not," Bakura snarled at him. Ryou's startlingly cat-like eyes narrowed.

"Just because _you _don't want anyone else here," he said with uncharacteristic anger, evidently struggling to keep his voice down, "Don't be so _selfish, _he's my father-!"

"Christ, you think this is about what _I _want?" Bakura growled, "I actually had quite a _different _reason in mind."

Ryou looked at him for a long moment, expression torn between confusion and annoyance. At length a kind of realization began to dawn slowly.

"That's right," Bakura said, folding his arms, "What do you think daddy's going to think, seeing you like _this_?"

Ryou bit down on his lower lip in that expression of unhappiness and discontent he used so often.

The man at the other end of the phone started talking again. Bakura, now being a lot closer to the ear-piece, could hear most of what he said.

"_Ryou? Are you there?"_

The white-haired teen opened and closed his mouth soundlessly a few times before managing to utter that he was indeed still there.

"_So I'll see you in a few days? Is that ok?"_

"Um…it's…" Ryou faltered, still crestfallen at realizing his father may not be able to come after all.

"_Is there a problem? If there is just say so – it's not urgent that I come, I just haven't seen you in such a long time."_

"Yes…it's been a very long time…" Ryou murmured forlornly.

"Tell him you're spending Christmas with your girlfriend," Bakura ordered in an abrupt, low hiss, since it was clear that Ryou wasn't going to come up with an excuse any time soon. At this blunt suggestion the teen's fact went cherry red.

"My _girlfriend?_" he gaped without thinking, "What on _earth _are you-?"

"_Ryou? What are you saying?" _came the voice of the boy's understandably perplexed father, _"A girlfriend…?"_

"N-no!" he said despairingly, "I was just…um…"

"Idiot, just tell him _something_!" Bakura grumbled.

"_Son…is someone there with you? I can hear a voice…"_

"What? No, there's no one here!" Ryou lied desperately, "There must be interference on the phone-line or…something…"

They both heard the elder Bakura chuckle softly.

"_Ok, son__, I understand," _he said in a proud, sort of 'that's my boy' tone, _"I guess I was forgetting you're at 'that age' now. If you've got someone special to spend Christmas with, then that's just fine. As a matter of fact, I've got someone kind of special too. I'll call you Christmas day, alright?"_

"No, dad, wait…"

There was a click, and the sound of the dialling tone filled their ears. Ryou stared at the phone for a long moment, and then caused Bakura to take a minor heart attack by getting to his feet and throwing it savagely to the floor. The thick carpet prevented any damage being done, but the severity of the action was enough to catch the yami's attention.

"Why do you always do this?" the teen asked wretchedly, "Why do you always have to spoil _everything_?"

"Don't blame _me_," Bakura snapped, also standing up and gathering his composure, "You know as well as I do that there would have been hell to pay if he'd shown up here and found this mess-"

"He's my _father_," Ryou said fiercely, "I thinkhe would let me _explain _before he ran off to report me to the nearest circus!"

"You think he'd believe your crazy story?" Bakura scoffed, "Past experience has proven him not to be the most _accepting _man in the world. He was quick to clear off as soon as the Millennium Ring started making you 'act all funny'."

"That _was _your fault," Ryou said darkly, and Bakura felt a weird sort of jolt because normally his hikari didn't blame him for anything.

"That may be," he conceded grudgingly, "But the fact remains that it would have been incredibly _stupid _to just invite him over and let him in on this-!"

"He's an archaeologist!" Ryou said defensively, "Maybe he'd have a better idea of how to solve it!"

"Isis Ishtar knows infinitely more about Ancient Egypt than your daddy ever will," Bakura sneered, "And even she doesn't have a clue. So stop making petty excuses."

"It's not _petty_!" Ryou shouted, and Bakura felt a distant stab of guilt as he saw that he'd made him cry, "He's my _father, _he's the only family I have left-"

"Yeah, that's right," Bakura said coldly, knowing this was hurting the teen but determined to set this matter straight once and for all, "He's all you have. But guess what? _You're not all he has. _You heard him on the phone, him and his 'special someone'. Face up to it, Ryou, he's replaced your mother with someone else and it's only a matter of time before he does the same to-!"

He couldn't finish, however, because Ryou's hand suddenly shot out and slapped him painfully across the face.

He blinked and stared at his quiet little hikari in utter disbelief. Ryou's face was flushed red with anger and suppressed crying, and tears now tumbled down his cheeks. His eyes were narrowed in fury and, Bakura saw to his considerable horror, his pupils had reduced to sharp, furious slits in their brilliant green depths.

And before he could utter a word, of apology or otherwise, Ryou had turned and ran.

Bakura was still standing in complete shock when he heard the front door open and slam closed. His right cheek stung and smarted with surprising intensity. Raising his hand to it, he felt something sticky and warm – something that burned hotter than the pain of the blow itself. Puzzled, he looked at his fingers and saw blood.

Wandering numbly into the bathroom, he looked in the mirror and saw there were three parallel slashes torn across the right side of his face. Just as if a cat had scratched him after he pulled its tail one too many times.

He chewed on the tip of his thumb in a rare display of anxiety, suddenly remembering Bastet's mysterious parting comment:

"_E__ven the most docile of cats will scratch when it is treated badly."_

He wondered if even she had known that her little analogy would come true _literally. _

The loudest roll of thunder to sound all day crashed through the sky. Its resounding boom snapped Bakura out of his daze.

"Shit…" he muttered, glancing at the rain-spattered window. If he remembered correctly, cats weren't too fond of getting wet.

…

To hell with_ cats_. _Ryou _was out there. And if he was cold and shivery _inside _the house, what must he be like out _there…_?

And he was crying…

Because of him…

"Damnit!" Bakura growled, dealing the bathroom door a satisfying kick before following his hikari out into the foul afternoon.

He ran down the flooding streets, his mane of white hair whipping from side to side as he looked around, searching for some sign of where Ryou had gone. The rain beat down from the skies, mingled with sharp fragments of hail that struck his face and hurt his eyes.

He suddenly realized that he could be running in the complete wrong direction, but tried to ignore that possibility. He had to hope that he was going the right way, and that he was actually doing something useful instead of just running blind…

He didn't know how long he ran. All he knew was that he was very cold, very wet and very out of breath by the time he spotted a figure further down whatever street he was on by this time. The figure was wrapped up in a thick coat with the hood up, making them virtually unrecognizable, but then, suddenly, a particularly harsh gust of wind ripped their hood down, revealing the tell-tale length of soft white hair. Despite his burning lungs, he forced himself to quicken his pace, all the while wondering just when the hell Ryou had become so fast.

A few moments later he caught up and threw out a hand to grab his hikari's arm. He pulled him around to face him and clamped his hands on his shoulders firmly, in case Ryou was still feeling rebellious. It seemed he was: he struggled desperately in Bakura's grasp, but he was smaller and clearly very tired, and he couldn't escape.

"Cool it," Bakura ordered sharply.

Ryou went still and somewhat limp, gasping for breath and staring around for some way out. Bakura frowned, noticing the terrible fear in his hikari's eyes and the tears that were still making trails down his face along with the pouring rain.

"I'm sorry-!" Ryou choked out, shutting his eyes tightly and hanging his head, "I'm really sorry, please let me go…I'm sorry-!"

His hood had only been torn down a few moments ago but his hair was soaked already, and his wet bangs almost completely curtained his pale, frightened face.

"Sorry?" Bakura repeated, puzzled, "What are you sorry for-?"

Ryou whimpered softly and lowered his head further, his shoulders trembling with cold and crying.

It was only then that Bakura remembered the slashes across his face, and Ryou talking back to him in anger earlier. And he realized, with some astonishment, that not so long ago, he would have made his hikari suffer terribly for doing those things. He'd punished Ryou for less in years gone by. And while his internal feelings towards the boy had been slowly changing over time – almost too slowly for him to even notice it was happening – he'd never really altered his outward attitude towards his hikari, or treated him any better in general. Ryou probably thought that nothing had changed between them since the first day he'd put the Millennium Ring around his neck. That was why Ryou was still so meek and subservient towards him: that wasn't his _real _personality, he just still felt like he wasn't _allowed _to be himself…

It was with equal bewilderment that Bakura realized that it hadn't even occurred to him to be angry with Ryou in this situation. For the first time in millennia, he had instinctively known and accepted that he had been in the wrong. He'd got the kid cursed, he'd said things to upset him, and in the end he'd just pushed him a little too far. It was his fault. It was just _wrong _that Ryou had even _thought _he had to apologize.

He gave a low growl and pulled the other boy towards him roughly, wrapping one arm firmly around his waist and burying his other hand in his drenched hair. Ryou squeaked in surprise and tensed slightly, unsure of what was happening.

"Don't say sorry," Bakura muttered darkly in his ear, "And stop crying."

Ryou's head was pressed against his shoulder, but his whole body had gone rigid in confusion and fear.

"W-what?" he stuttered out.

"Damnit, you don't have to be sorry," Bakura snarled, "It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have…I mean…I was wrong to…"

A long silence fell between them, disturbed only by the pounding of the rain all around them. Bakura wondered what Ryou was thinking – wondered if he knew how hard he was trying to apologize. At length he felt the tension start to ease from his hikari's slender frame. He pulled away from him slightly and stared hard into his jade-green eyes.

"Don't be afraid," he said, ashamed of how his voice shook slightly, "For God's sake, _don't _be afraid of me."

Ryou tilted his head to one side and blinked, gazing at him with a puzzled but not unhappy expression. The fear was gone, Bakura realized, and that was what mattered. He started when he felt Ryou's hand touch his face gently.

"You're bleeding," the teen said softly. Bakura winced when his fingers brushed over the open wounds.

"Yeah," he replied gruffly, catching Ryou's hand in his own, "Some claws you've got coming along there."

Ryou blushed faintly and mumbled some apology.

"If you say you're sorry one more time, I'm going to have to make you scratch me again," Bakura warned, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. Ryou laughed shyly.

"You're all wet, too," he commented, indicating to his saturated t-shirt. Bakura observed himself and realized he was right. Whilst Ryou had had the presence of mind to grab a coat before he ran out – a good thing too, since it hid the tail and, when the hood was up, the ears –, he had been in too much of a hurry. As a result, he now probably resembled some form of half-drowned animal.

It was worth it, he decided.

"Let's head back now," he muttered, a spray of water flicking off of him as he turned and led the way down the semi-flooded street.

He wasn't sure why, but he didn't let go of Ryou's hand all the way home.

Once they were safely home again, they both looked as if they had just stepped out of a washing machine half-way through the rinse cycle. Ryou's hood had been restored for the walk back, but it hadn't made much difference – they were both sodden from head to foot.

"Hot shower," Bakura ordered, "Now."

"You're wetter than I am," Ryou protested, peeling off his jacket to reveal his relatively dry t-shirt, "You should go first."

"Do as you're told," Bakura growled, but it was half-hearted, and the usual severity was absent. He cringed inwardly at how weak he was becoming.

"At least let me clean those scratches first," Ryou fussed, tugging him towards the bathroom.

"I think they're clean already," Bakura muttered, shaking his head like a dog. Ryou shrieked with mirth as water flew everywhere. Ordinarily, in his catty situation, he would have complained – but since he was wet anyway, it didn't seem to matter much.

Ryou dabbed gingerly at his face with cotton wool, looking spectacularly guilt-ridden all the while, and then went to put a band-aid over the wounds, but Bakura batted his concerned hands away, muttering something about how he'd heal faster without it. He then exited the bathroom, threw a few towels at Ryou and commanded that he get showered, dried and into warm clothes within the next ten minutes, or else there would be _consequences. _

Both of them knew there would be no consequences either way, but Ryou decided to oblige. As Bakura grabbed another towel to get the worst of the water off of him, he wondered vaguely just when his hikari had started to make such an impression on him. Ryou was like the ocean, he mused, and he was like a jagged rock, slowly being rubbed smooth by the gentle comings and goings of the tide.

At length they were both dried, in non-soggy clothes and sitting as close to the living room radiator as they could get without burning their noses. However, Ryou was still shivering like crazy, as if he was outside at the North Pole rather than curled up on the sofa in a warm house.

"Go put another jumper on or something," Bakura said as the chittering started to grate on him.

"It wouldn't make any difference," he said miserably, pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly.

There was another long silence.

"…You were right, you know," Ryou said finally, looking fixedly at the wall. Bakura frowned at him.

"About what?" he asked in puzzlement.

"My dad," Ryou said dejectedly, "He would have freaked if he'd found out about this. And you were right, he doesn't need me anymore-"

"No, I didn't really mean-"

"It's true. I might as well get used to the idea. One of these days he's just going to stop calling. Then I'll be all alone…"

He lowered his eyes forlornly, the cat-ears on his head even seeming to droop a little.

Bakura sighed heavily and bade a fond farewell to his cold, unflappable persona of the past five centuries. Then he reached over and wrapped his arms around his sad little hikari, and pulled him into what he grudgingly admitted could not be described as anything besides a hug. Ryou tensed up again in confusion and uncertainty, and Bakura really couldn't find it in him to blame him.

"You don't have to worry…about being alone," the yami said quietly, his face going faintly red because it really wasn't in his nature to talk (or, indeed, act) like this, "I mean…I'm here, right?"

There was a pause, then he felt Ryou give a small laugh.

"You always said…that you were going to leave, first chance you got," he said softly.

"I lied," Bakura said bluntly.

Ryou laughed again and dared to relax a little in his arms.

"I really am sorry about your face," he said at length.

"It's fine," Bakura said gruffly, "I probably had it coming."

"Not really…" Ryou said vaguely, "Ugh…why did it have to be cats…?"

"Hm?" Bakura questioned, "I thought you liked cats?"

"Yes, but you don't," he said softly, "I mean…if I _had _to end up some bizarre animal-human hybrid, I wouldn't have chosen a cat. I would have picked something you'd at least like…"

"You're so weird," Bakura snorted, "It wouldn't be much of a curse if it was something I like, would it?"

"I suppose," Ryou agreed with a giggle.

"Besides…" he said awkwardly, pulling him a little closer, "Cats have kind of been growing on me lately. I guess they have their good points too."

"Heh…really?" Ryou said in amusement, snuggling into his side and shifting until he was comfortable. Bakura blinked at this seemingly bold move before realizing it was probably more for warmth than anything else. But, he argued inwardly, Ryou would never have dared to do that in the past, even if he was freezing to death, so he must feel a tiny bit safer with him than before…

This kid was enough to pickle a guy's brain, he thought with amusement.

They didn't talk any more after that – just sat there, feeling slightly awkward but generally content and comfortable. Bakura suddenly realized that, for the first time in days, Ryou had stopped shivering. He also became aware of a strange sound – a sort of deep, happy rumbling. He snorted with laughter when it occurred to him what it was. Ryou twisted his neck to frown questioningly up at him.

"What're you laughing at?" he said curiously.

"Are you _purring_?" Bakura asked, struggling to keep a straight face. Ryou looked confused for a moment, and then seemed to think for a few seconds before going bright red.

"No way…" he moaned, hanging his head, "I'm not doing it on purpose, I _swear…_"

Bakura just snorted to himself again, trying very hard not to actually laugh out loud. He wasn't entirely sure why this seemed so amusing, but for whatever reason it was making him want to laugh without cruelty or sarcasm for the first time in forever…

"It's not funny…" Ryou mumbled, but then he started to see the humorous side of it too and laughed a little himself, "Ok, I guess it is…"

A few minutes later the room went very quiet, and Bakura saw that Ryou had fallen asleep. His mouth curved into a small smile as he observed his serene sleeping face. It had to be illegal for someone to be that cute.

It seemed like they'd really come a long way today…

Without really thinking about what he was doing, he lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on his hikari's forehead. As soon as the action registered in his mind he pulled back sharply in shock, his thoughts a blur and his body numb.

_What the hell…?_

To make matters worse, Ryou's eyes fluttered half-open. He glanced up at him sleepily, gave a small, enigmatic laugh (which may or may not have been an indication of 'I know what you just did') and then promptly dozed off again.

Bakura blinked and then smiled dryly to himself.

"You're starting to have quite a scary effect on me, kid," he said quietly, brushing his hand over those little white cat ears and getting a contented purr in return.

* * *

_**Oh Em Gee, it is finally done.**_

_**Once again, so sorry it took so long. My school is ruthless…there has been no time for writing. (Sulk) I'm also sorry that it's not the greatest chapter in the world. If it sounds kinda stilted, it's because it was written in dribs and drabs in the few moments I could snatch per day…**_

_**Review thank you's: **_

_**Pork Steak the Grande: HAHA, your idea of Bakura 'gobbling' Ryou up created some intriguing mental images…Aha, but as hard as Bakura is trying, he still hasn't managed to work this thing out. Hopefully in the next chapter, since it's the final one (hopefully). Thanks for another amusing review, hope you liked chapter 5.**_

_**Ahilty: oh my, that's the one implication that never occurred to me XD That would be hilarious, though…thanks for your review.**_

_**Destiny Quill: Ahahaha…once again, your review made me almost choke with laughter. Ryou and the cat…that absolutely KO'd me XD You're so amusing! You keep my soul alive! And trust me, with exams coming up that's not an easy thing to do…Anyway. I think we can agree that this was NOT a quick update. I apologize profusely. I hope you liked it, though, because you put so much effort into that last review XD Once again, you are awesome. Thanks again.**_

_**Thanks also go out to bluewolf8000, casaragi, Argh, Ana, ONIX-21, Wild Dragon's Breath, Fedishi, FlyingShadow666, Erik's Champion, mystralwind, Moon Comix, Pokematic7, Isaya831, Pharaoh Felicia, Echo in the Dark and Chisaki-chan. You are all wonderful X3**_

_**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Until next time…**_

_**Fiver**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey folks. Here's the final chapter. Sorry it took so long.**_

_**Chapter 6**_

'_With their qualities of cleanliness, discretion, affection, patience, dignity and courage, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?' – _**Fernand Mery**

The second phone call came on an unremarkable and uneventful Thursday, which also happened to be Christmas Eve.

Things had been going well for the past few days: there had been no more arguments or fights, Ryou wasn't stressing as much about his 'cat-ness', and Bakura was finding it surprisingly easy to act in such a way that let his hikari know he cared for him.

There had been no more kisses, though. That one occasion had been fairly odd.

On this uninspiring Thursday morning, the phone happened to ring while Ryou was somewhat preoccupied in the shower. (Much to Bakura's relief, his dislike of water hadn't been enough to make him jeopardise his personal hygiene.) Bakura let it ring away to itself for a while, but then gave an irritated sigh as he acknowledged that, whoever it was, they weren't going to just give up, and he was going to have to answer it.

"What?" he snapped, snatching up the device and holding it apprehensively to his ear.

"_Woah. Someone's social skills still __**suck.**__"_

Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"…Malik?" he questioned at length.

"_Who else? Hey, I think this is the first time you've __**ever **__answered one of my calls…are you finally moving into the technological age or…?"_

"State your business, Ishtar, or go away," Bakura growled.

"_Whatever," _the volume of Malik's voice suddenly dropped to a suspiciously quiet level, _"But first, is Ryou around?"_

"Of course he's around. He _lives here._"

"_But i__s he nearby? Can he hear this conversation?" _he hissed.

"Wha…? No, he's in the shower."

"_Right. Listen up. We have a bit of a problem…"_

Bakura held the phone slightly away from his head in mistrust.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

Despite knowing that Ryou was not within earshot, Malik's next utterance was completely inaudible.

"What?" Bakura said in growing irritation, "Speak up, for God's sake."

"_Fine! __**I lost the mouse**__!"_ Malik blurted out, _"There! I said it!"_

"You did _what_?"

"_I have lost Ryou's mouse. It ha__s opened its own cage and escaped."_

"Hell as like! You probably just left the cage open yourself, you _moron_-!"

"_I'm not kidding! __That mouse is Houdini in rodent form!"_

"Shut up," Bakura snarled, grinding the heel of his hand into his eye, "I'm coming over. Just don't step on the rat, whatever you do."

"…_Seriously? You're actually going to come over and help?"_

"Of course, you idiot. If Ryou finds out you've lost his pet, he's going to freak…"

"_Aw, Bakura, that's so __**sweet**__…"_

"Shut up."

"_But it's-"_

"Shut up."

"…_Fine. Get your butt over here."_

Bakura rolled his eyes irritably and, after a considerable period of searching, found and pressed the 'end call' button. He went and grabbed his coat and, just as he was about to leave, heard Ryou switch the shower off.

"…Hey," he called, "I'm going out."

"Out?" he heard Ryou repeat in bewilderment, his voice muffled by the bathroom door, "Where?"

Bakura briefly considered telling him the truth, but quickly decided that such a thing would only cause unnecessary grief. If he and Malik found the unfortunate Rupert drowned in the toilet, then he would tell Ryou what had happened. As things stood, there was still a slight chance that the rodent could be saved. He would cling to that chance.

"Just out," he replied vaguely, hurrying out of the house before Ryou could answer.

When he reached the Ishtar household, he had barely lifted his hand to ring the bell when the door burst open and Malik bodily dragged him inside.

"Took you long enough," the blonde grumbled, even though their phone conversation had occurred a mere ten minutes ago, "Seriously, I need to find this mouse, or I might as well just _die…"_

"You always did like to over-dramatise matters," Bakura said dryly, "Have you started searching yet?"

"What do you _think_?" Malik asked in a slightly high-pitched voice, gesturing to their surroundings. Bakura glanced around and saw that the living room looked like it had recently suffered a violent raiding and pillaging, with cushions strewn everywhere, chairs upturned with their linings unzipped, bookshelves haphazardly emptied and the TV dragged out from its customary corner.

"Looks like you've been quite thorough," Bakura remarked, raising his eyebrows and wondering if a certain Isis Ishtar knew about this carnage.

"You should see my room," Malik said with a nervous giggle, "I dismantled my bed. And my VCR."

"What would a _mouse_ be doing in your _VCR_?"

"I don't know! It could have crawled in the video slot or-!"

"Oh just shut up," Bakura growled, "Is there anywhere you _haven't _looked yet?"

"Um…just the kitchen."

Bakura stared at him in disbelief.

"…What?" Malik questioned after a moment.

"An animal is loose in your house," Bakura said very, very slowly, "And the only place you _don't _think to look is _the one place you keep your food?_"

Malik blinked a few times.

"Oops," he said finally.

"I despair," Bakura muttered, shoving the blonde slightly so that he would lead the way to the kitchen. They began an organised and systematic search, opening the cupboards, removing the contents and setting them neatly on the dressers. This quickly degenerated into a careless and random emptying of said cupboards and a disorganized replacement of all the contents when the search proved fruitless.

"So how are things with Ryou?" Malik asked as they worked.

"Must you make small talk while we do this?" Bakura asked in irritation.

"Well, the scratches on your face made me worry. I hope you're being nice to him," Malik said with uncharacteristic seriousness, "It's the least you can do, since you evidently haven't managed to break that stupid curse yet. He must be pretty down, having to spend Christmas half-cat."

"He's not so down," Bakura muttered, "And he's not _half_-cat."

"The fractional amount is irrelevant. The point still stands," Malik said with a dismissive wave of a hand, "So what have you got him?"

"What?" Bakura asked, grimacing as he found what appeared to be a very out-of-date banana at the back of his current cupboard.

"Y'know, for Christmas."

Bakura looked at him blankly.

"I haven't 'got him' anything," he said at length.

"…Woah," Malik said, looking rather hypocritically disgusted, "That's…pretty bad."

"I don't know how these stupid festivals work," Bakura snorted, resuming his search.

"Then allow me to explain it in layman's terms," Malik said with a roll of his eyes, "This _particular _festival, we call Christmas. Whilst it may have originally been about religion or family values or togetherness or whatever, it is now officially a cold, merciless holiday based upon the highly competitive exchanging of flashy and expensive gifts."

Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"And I'm supposed to _want _to celebrate this thing?" he asked disdainfully.

"I thought it'd be right up your street, what with you being the master thief and all," Malik said with a shrug, "I figured you'd want to prove that you could steal something for Ryou that was more awesome than anything anyone else could buy him."

"Sounds like a challenge…" Bakura mumbled, vaguely interested, "But I only ever stole things for my own use. Never for gifts. I don't know what other people would want."

"Forget 'other people'," Malik ordered, "You must know the kind of stuff Ryou likes. I mean, you live with him. You'd be the worst housemate in all of history if you have absolutely no idea."

"I guess I win that prize, then," Bakura said gruffly. Malik sighed exasperatedly.

"At least _try_," he snapped, aiming a kick in the yami's direction. For once Bakura managed to avoid the blonde's onslaught.

"Calm down, of course I'm going to _try_," he grumbled, "Even if I completely fail, the fact that I made an attempt might cheer him up _slightly. _And that's the general idea…"

Malik looked astonished for a moment, and then his expression softened.

"It shouldn't be so hard," he told him, "You'll wander about for a while, and then you'll see something that just screams '_Ryou would just love me!', _y'know?"

Bakura's mouth twitched involuntarily into a slight smile.

"That's a frightening mental image…" he remarked.

"Oh come on, you know what I-"

Bakura frowned and looked up from his searching as Malik suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and saw the blonde staring transfixed into one of the cupboards. Hardly daring to hope, he followed his gaze and spotted a fast-moving, furry shape in the back corner of the baking ingredients area.

"I see it-!" Malik gasped, dropping on all fours to peer into the cupboard.

"Well don't just squat there, grab it!" Bakura ordered, wondering if finding and locating the fiendish mouse would really be this simple. He somehow doubted it.

Looking somewhat apprehensive, Malik reached into the shadowy depths of the cupboard and began searching around for the evasive Rupert. A moment later, Bakura almost jumped a foot in the air as the Egyptian teen gave a yelp of surprise and yanked his hand back as though the mouse had lit a match under it. Unfortunately, this action sent an open bag of flour flying out of the cupboard and into the air. They both reached up simultaneously to grab it but, even more unfortunately, they both got hold of the wrong end of the packet. As a result, it suddenly became a very white Christmas in the Ishtar household.

Once the dust settled to some extent, Bakura dared to open his eyes and looked at a white-from-top-to-toe Malik with a look of pure '_Why?' _on his face.

"…Little bastard bit me," the blonde mumbled, going faintly red in the face under the coating of flour.

"One of these days, Ishtar, I swear…" Bakura growled, attempting to brush the white powder off of his face – a vain action, in all honesty, since all of him, including his hands, were covered in it.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened and Isis stepped into the kitchen, laden with grocery bags. She blinked in disbelief at the understandably surprising sight of her younger sibling and the Thief King sitting on the tiled floor amidst a mountain of spilt flour. Bakura felt that there should really have been a sign with the word 'Fail' written on it hovering above their heads.

"…Malik," Isis said very slowly, "What…?"

"Look, I lost Ryou's pet mouse and I searched for it everywhere except the kitchen, and then Bakura came and we started looking here, and then I _saw it _so I went to grab it, but it bit me and there was this bag of flour and…" Malik trailed off looking thoroughly dejected.

"Yes, I believe I can put the pieces of that story together," Isis said with a world-weary (or perhaps brother-weary) sigh, setting the bags on the reasonably un-floured table, "Let's just get this cleaned up before Rishid gets home and sees what you've done to his tidy kitchen…"

At length the flour was swept up and Bakura and Malik, though still slightly whitish in places, were presentable once more.

"Next time you have a problem like this, just wait until I come home and ask me for help, alright?" Isis scolded mildly, "There's one fail-safe way to catch a mouse in a humane fashion."

"There is?" both boys said in almost perfect unison, expressions of equal bewilderment on their faces.

This fail-safe method proved a lot simpler than any sort of trap they would have come up with: essentially, it involved taking an empty glass bottle, putting some tempting rodent-treats inside, and leaving the bottle on the floor on its side, just waiting for the unsuspecting mouse to wander along and squeeze inside to get its food.

"The sides of the bottle are too slippery," Isis explained, "So it can't get out again without help."

"_That _is clever," Malik said, looking rather impressed. Bakura said nothing. He still had the distinct feeling that this would go wrong somehow.

"Hey, while we're waiting for the mouse to fall for our genius trap…" Malik said suddenly, "We could go last-minute shopping. You really need to get that gift and…" his voice went quiet, "To be honest, I still have a _whole load _of shit to buy…"

"I didn't know what this holiday was all about," Bakura said in a deadpan voice, "What's your excuse?"

Within fifteen minutes the Thief King found himself in the Domino department store. Malik had rushed off to find something 'little-brother-adorable and reasonably inexpensive' for Isis, and so he found himself wandering alone, with absolutely no clue as to what he was looking for. Ryou, being Ryou, would probably be giddy with happiness no matter what he got him, but that wasn't good enough. Bakura didn't give a damn what anyone said: it _wasn't _the thought that counted. It had to be something his hikari would _really _like…

He halted and briefly wondered when he'd become so very fond of Ryou, and so concerned for his feelings. He then gruffly concluded that he'd been that way all along, but it had only been this damn curse that had made him sit up and take notice of it. At least that much good would come of the whole stupid thing.

Just then, something in a shop window caught his eye. Whilst it didn't exactly scream at him, as in Malik's little anecdote, it did immediately strike him, in a funny way, that it was just _the thing _to get. But then the thought of buying (or stealing) it seemed ridiculous to him, and he disregarded it totally. But no matter which store he went into after that, that one thing kept nagging at his mind.

He hesitated, trying to think this through logically. There was only one thing he knew for sure: if he got that particular thing for Ryou, the reaction he got would either be really good…or _really bad. _

He hung back a while longer, undecided, before growling a variety of obscenities under his breath and marching into the shop, mind firmly made up. What was life without risks, anyway?

When he met up with Malik again, the blonde's lavender eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw his choice of gift. He refused to say anything, though, good or bad. That was unusual for Malik, since he usually _really _liked to make his opinion heard, but Bakura wasn't bothered by it. He didn't need anyone saying anything now to make him lose strength.

They made their way back to the Ishtar household, and went into the kitchen with a mutual feeling of dread. However, Isis was there with a satisfied smile on her face, and when they looked at their 'better mouse-trap' they saw a very disgruntled looking Rupert sitting in his defeat inside the bottle.

"Woah," Bakura said in undisguised surprise, "It actually worked."

"Of course it worked," Isis said, looking mildly offended.

"Ha!" Malik grinned, putting his face close-up to the bottle and pointing mockingly at the captured rodent, "You _lose, _Rupert! We're just too smart for you! How do you like _that_?"

Bakura could have sworn that the mouse shot Malik a disdainful look with 'this was only round one' written all over it. He had a nasty feeling that he'd be getting another phone-call really soon. However, for the moment Rupert was securely back in his cage (with the door sticky-taped shut), and Bakura left to go back home.

When he reached the house, he slipped inside quietly and hid the rather large gift box in his room. It made a small noise. He hissed at it to be quiet.

He wandered through the house in search of Ryou. He eventually found him in the living room, setting up a very small tree on their coffee table. He tilted his head to one side and frowned. Malik had failed to mention the concept of Christmas trees to him, and whilst he had seen many of the things in almost every house and shop today, it hadn't really bothered him until this one had popped up in his own home.

"…Ryou," he said, "What is that?"

Ryou jumped slightly at his voice, having apparently been so intent upon his small piece of foliage that he hadn't heard him come in. He looked up at him and gave a small smile, but Bakura noticed with some disquiet that his eyes were red-rimmed.

"It's a Christmas tree," Ryou said, "I mean, it's a really small one, but it's still-"

"Why were you crying?" Bakura asked, cutting off the explanation that he didn't even care about anymore. Ryou blushed.

"Oh, um…" he mumbled, "It's nothing really, I just didn't know where you were and when you'd be back, and people usually decorate their Christmas trees together and…"

"So we'll finish it together," Bakura interrupted, squirming with guilt but knowing he couldn't tell Ryou anything about what he'd done today, "But you'll need to tell me what to do. Why do we have a tree in the house anyway?"

"It's not a real tree," Ryou said with a laugh, "This one's artificial. It's a Christmas tradition for people to have a pine tree in their house and decorate it."

Bakura looked baffled.

"But…why?" he questioned, looking as though he wasn't sure if Ryou was making fun of him or not.

"Um…" Ryou thought for a long moment, "I don't actually know. I guess the evergreen tree is to remind us of spring or something…but why we decorate it is a mystery to me…But it's fun. And it looks pretty."

"If you say so," Bakura said dubiously, picking up a small red ribbon and hanging it on a branch.

It didn't take them long to finish – the tree couldn't have been more than four feet tall – but it was a pleasant enough time, and the finished article was rather impressive. Even Bakura thought so, and he didn't even know what it was supposed to look like.

"I like it," Ryou said with a happy smile, "…Thanks."

Bakura started when he felt a slim hand slip shyly into his own. He stared down at their clasped hands, feeling like they were the very symbol of how much things had changed between them over the past few weeks. Noticing his line of vision, Ryou flushed and went to pull away, but Bakura held onto his hand tightly, not wanting the moment to end. He couldn't help it. Ever since he'd allowed himself to soften his attitude towards his hikari, it was as if the feelings he'd hardly been aware of before had suddenly become so much stronger…

Ryou's face went beetroot-red, but his eyes sparkled and that smile widened ever so slightly.

* * *

From what Bakura could remember from his time in the Millennium Ring, Ryou was usually incredibly excited on the night of December 24th. Not this year, though. He supposed it was because his hikari didn't expect there to be any Christmas the next morning. Once again he eyed the gift box in his bedroom warily, wondering for the millionth time if this was a good idea.

For most of the evening he and Ryou had sat together on the sofa, not talking much because they didn't need to. However, Ryou had come out with the strangest thing.

"Bakura…what happens, when the curse is broken?" he asked softly. Bakura blinked.

"Um…well…" he said uncertainly, "Basically…you won't be part-cat anymore."

"…Yes, I know," Ryou said, apparently fighting back a laugh at his expense, "I meant, what happens with…with us?"

The final few words were said in a mortified rush. Bakura blinked again, before realising with deadly certainty what he meant.

"Things won't go back to the way they were before, if that's what you mean," he said quietly, passing a hand briefly over those fluffy cat ears. Ryou's face flushed again – he really was the shyest kid, Bakura thought with amusement – but he looked so happy that it seemed like he might burst.

Crazy, Bakura thought to himself in his room later, shaking his head. He cast one more look at the gift box in the corner before jumping into bed. It was too late to go back on his plan now. He'd just have to hope it worked out.

It wasn't long before the house was completely silent and still. All over Domino, kids were lying in bed, unable to sleep with excitement at the prospect of the imminent Christmas morning. Even Bakura, who still had very little idea of what Christmas was actually all about, felt as though there was indeed some strange magic in the air that night.

However, the idyllic feel of it all wore off rather quickly when he was awoken at around five in the morning by a startled shriek from Ryou's room. Shooting out of bed, he noted that the gift box was now lying on its side. Open.

"…Shit," he said to no one in particular, palming his face.

He'd also left his door ajar the previous evening.

"…_Shit,_" he said again, this time choosing to deal himself a slap to the side of the head. With some amount of dread in the pit of his stomach, he advanced into the hallway, reaching Ryou's room just in time to see him tip-toeing out, ears and tail and all.

"What was the commotion about?" Bakura asked casually. If it wasn't what he thought it was…then that was good.

"Oh, um…" Ryou said, blatantly hiding something behind his back, "It was nothing."

"You scream at some weird things, Ryou," Bakura said, "But you don't scream at nothing."

"Ok, ok," he said, bringing the hidden object out into the open. It wriggled in his hands, "A cat got into my room somehow. I got a fright, because it just suddenly jumped up onto my bed, and I really don't know how it got in here…"

"Uh, yeah," Bakura said, clearing his throat, "Merry Christmas?"

Ryou stared at him blankly. Wordlessly, Bakura led him back to his own bedroom and indicated to the upturned gift box, and the kitten supplies now strewn all over the floor.

"But…wait," Ryou said, still looking utterly confused, "It was in here…?"

"It's for you, moron," Bakura said gruffly, half-turning away, "You always wanted a cat, right?"

Ryou was silent, looking totally incredulous. Bakura winced inwardly. This was where it would all go right, or all go wrong. This could be taken as an insult, or a selfless gesture. And Ryou's reactions to things really had been unpredictable lately…

Suddenly, Bakura found himself almost bowled over as Ryou threw his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

…Yeah, that would suggest a positive response.

"Thank you so much!" Ryou gushed, still clinging to him, the cat sandwiched between them, "I mean, is this ok? You don't like cats, and if it's going to be a problem, then…"

"Shut up," Bakura said with a faint smile, giving into the temptation and returning his hikari's impromptu embrace. He wrapped his arms around him securely, causing Ryou to giggle but causing the cat to meow in protest. They were comfortable like that – comfortable, happy and warm. It seemed criminal that they had to eventually break apart.

"Thank you so much," Ryou said again, clutching the small silvery kitten to his chest and smiling up at his yami with shining eyes.

"You already said that," Bakura said, batting him lightly around the head, "Come on, I'm hungry. We need food."

And so it was that their Christmas breakfast was taken in the way it should be – in high spirits. However, Ryou suddenly gave a horrified gasp.

"Ah, Bakura…" he said, gnawing on his thumbnail, "I haven't been able to go any Christmas shopping, so…"

Bakura snorted and cut him off, knowing what he was about to say.

"Trust me, Ryou," he said, "You owe me nothing."

After breakfast they retreated to the sofa, where Ryou fussed over his new pet to no end. Then a thought struck him.

"Bakura…" he said uncertainly, "What about Rupert…?"

Bakura put on his best innocent smile.

"The thing is, Ryou…" he said with fake hesitance, "I was over at Malik's a while yesterday. And I think…he's become _really _attached to that mouse. I know he's yours and all, but I was thinking if we had a cat…?"

"Aw, that's so cute," Ryou laughed, cuddling the as-yet-unnamed kitten, "Well, if you really think he's grown on Malik that much…"

"Oh yeah," Bakura said seriously, "They were practically inseparable."

"I'd hate to tear something like that apart," Ryou said thoughtfully.

Bakura turned his face away so that Ryou wouldn't see his sadistic smirk. He just couldn't wait to break the news to dear Malik.

Having been roused from their beds at such an ungodly hour that morning, it wasn't long before their heads started nodding. But before they inevitably fell asleep, Bakura knew there was something he had to say.

"Ryou…" he said, nudging the teen slightly.

"Hm?" Ryou mumbled sleepily.

"I'm…really sorry," Bakura muttered, feeling his face burning, "For everything. Especially for not breaking this damn curse yet. I promise I will, I'll never give up, but…"

Ryou smiled at him, and all the words went out of his head.

"It's ok, Bakura," he said softly. And he actually meant it.

And Bakura just couldn't help it. The curse, Bastet's enigmatic words, Malik's relentless teasing, they all vanished completely from his mind in that moment. All that remained was Ryou – his shy smiles and sweet voice, his bottomless green eyes and heart-shaped face. Maybe that was why Bakura kissed him. He wasn't entirely sure.

He heard Ryou gasp softly in surprise as he leaned in and pressed his lips firmly against his. For a moment both of them just froze – Bakura's thoughts screaming '_What the hell did you just __**do**__?' _and Ryou's probably gibbering _'What is going __**on**__?'_

The kitten meowed. The spell broke, and they jumped apart.

"Um…what…" Ryou mumbled, his face red and looking totally confused.

"Sorry," Bakura said immediately, feeling the strong urge to whack his head off the nearby wall.

"N-no! Don't be sorry!" Ryou squeaked, reaching out and holding onto his arm. At this Bakura also looked confused, and Ryou blushed even deeper, "Um…that is…I…"

Bakura stared at him in wonder for a long, long moment. Then he reached out, slowly, and laid a hand over one side of Ryou's face. He caressed the pale skin lightly with his thumb, and felt a small thrill when his hikari leaned into the touch with a bashful smile.

"So…" he said uncertainly.

"Yes," Ryou said with a small laugh, not even waiting for him to speak.

Bakura couldn't stop himself from smiling again – his pride was bust anyway. He moved in again, without fear and hesitation this time, and kissed his little light – a proper kiss this time; deep, lingering and loving. Ryou made a small mewing sound of delight, and Bakura felt like his heart might just burst.

It was with great reluctance that they finally broke apart, both of them feeling equally stunned – and happy – as they looked into each other's eyes. Of all the things that either of them had expected to happen today…that hadn't been one of them. But neither of them could deny that it was probably what they had secretly wanted most.

"I…wow," Ryou said finally, giggling nervously, "I had no idea that you…"

"Me neither," Bakura admitted.

"I mean…I always…I just never thought that you…"

"Ryou," Bakura said in amusement, batting him lightly over the head again, "Shut up."

Ryou flushed and nodded, cuddling his kitten close to his chest. Bakura smirked slightly as the thought struck him that he wanted to cuddle _his_ kitten too. He wrapped his arms around Ryou securely, and he happily snuggled into him. It was like some sort of dream – a few weeks ago it had been unthinkable that they would ever been this close.

"Bakura," Ryou said suddenly, "…Thank you."

Bakura wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but found himself too sleepy to worry about it much.

"It's fine," he said, before they both fell sound asleep, contented and cosily snuggled together.

* * *

It was around one PM when Bakura woke up.

It took him a few moments to realise that the warm weight against his right side was Ryou, still fast asleep. He blinked a few times and smiled, having thought that the whole thing would have turned out to be a dream.

"I have to say, tomb-robber, you certainly took your sweet time."

Bakura started, almost but not quite upsetting Ryou, and looked up to see Bastet lounging lazily on the nearby armchair.

"What do _you_ want?" he hissed dangerously, hands clenching into fists. She blinked languidly and raised one feline eyebrow, as if scolding him for his conduct.

"Show a little gratitude," she said, "I _could _have just sent a messenger down to do it, but I graciously decided to do the deed myself…"

"What are you _talking _about?" Bakura snarled, wanting so much to spring at her and just _maul, _but at the same time not wanting to wake his hikari.

"The curse, you little idiot," she said with a long-suffering sigh, examining her claw-like fingernails, "You found the cure, right?"

Bakura frowned.

"I did?" he said after a moment. She rolled her eyes.

"My, you _are _a foolish one," she said, ignoring the glare he sent her, "Even after you break it, you still haven't worked out how you did it…?"

"After I broke it…?" Bakura questioned slowly. Bastet nodded as one would to a small child. Bakura ignored the gesture, instead looking down at the still-dozing Ryou.

The cat ears were gone.

"What the…?" he said incredulously, looking his hikari over. The tail had vanished too, his closed eyes no longer appeared slanted, his fingernails had lost their needle-sharpness.

"Hey…I did it," Bakura said with an unrestrained grin, "I _actually _did it!"

"Yes, well done, Thief," Bastet said in evident boredom, "Anyone else would have done it in about two days, but never mind. Your own ignorance made the whole thing more of a punishment than it was even intended to be, but I suppose that works to my advantage."

"But…I don't get it," Bakura said, frowning again, "Why did it break?"

"It was something you should do naturally, right?" the goddess smirked, "Without being told? Work it out, Touzoku. It's not brain surgery."

Bakura thought for what seemed a ridiculously long time.

"I had to…be nice to him?" he asked dubiously. Bastet rolled her eyes.

"Almost," she said, "You really just had to…admit and show that you cared. Because, I'm sorry, but from the first moment I dropped in here, it was painfully obvious that you did. You just didn't know it."

"Shut up…" he mumbled half-heartedly, knowing she was right and hating it.

"Hmph. Well, Thief, our business is complete. I sincerely hope our paths never cross again," Bastet said, getting to her feet.

"The feeling's mutual," Bakura growled.

"I'm sure. A beautiful choice of companion, by the way," she said, gesturing to the sofa's sleeping inhabitants.

"…Yeah," Bakura said quietly, brushing a few locks of stray hair out of Ryou's eyes.

"I was referring to the cat, Touzoku," the goddess smirked, "But yes, the boy too."

Bakura just glared at her. She laughed merrily.

"Play nice, now," she said, "Make this second life worth it."

And with that, the mandatory beam of heavenly light came shooting down, and she was gone.

Bakura sighed, wondering why it was that spending even the briefest time in the presence of that goddess drained him of almost all his energy. Ryou stirred against his shoulder – apparently the burst of bright light had roused him from his nap.

"Nngh…" he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes, "What time is it…?"

"Just past one," Bakura told him, waiting to see if Ryou would take as long as he had to notice the fortuitous change.

"Already?" he yawned, "I should make lunch…"

Bakura tried and failed to suppress a snort of laughter. Ryou blinked, perplexed.

"What's funny?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Nothing," Bakura said, looking half-away.

"What are you smiling about?" Ryou persisted, pouting cutely in annoyance. Wordlessly, Bakura reached over and laid a hand on top of his fluffy white head. Ryou looked dubious for a moment, and then reached up with his own hands in the same direction. He gasped when he found nothing untowardly feline there.

"Bakura, it's…!" he cried.

"Yeah," he agreed in amusement, pulling him into another lazy embrace.

"But…but _how?" _Ryou gaped, twisting his neck to look up at him, now-normal-green eyes wide.

"What can I say?" Bakura smirked, "I guess a first kiss can work wonders."

Ryou stared at him, still looking totally incredulous, but eventually just gave up and laughed.

"I guess so," he said, smiling contently.

"…Merry Christmas, Ryou."

Inwardly, both of them had the strange feeling that it had been the best Christmas ever.

* * *

_**FIN.**_

_**Wows. It is finished :O**_

_**I know, **__**I also took my sweet time. I can only apologise. But now it's done, and I can work on my new fics with a clear conscience :3 And believe me…that's a lot of fics.**_

_**Review thank you's:**_

_**I Love Everything: That picture link didn't work :( And that makes me sad. Sorry the update took so long, and thanks for your review. Hope you liked the conclusion :)**_

_**A great big sugar-coated thank you to ONIX-21, Chisaki-chan, ahilty, Echo in the Dark, ylc, Wild Dragon's breath, Moon Comix, mystralwind, casaragi, saternoutlaw, KhaosKitty, XxChange-of-HeartxX, summer-flower-girl and DarkestInk. You are all my sunshines.**_

_**Kudos to anyone who can come up with the perfect name for Ryou's cat.**_

_**Please review.**_

_**Until next time…**_

_**Fiver x**_


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